Legendary former principal Frank Mickens died in his sleep yesterday. The 63-year-old Mickens was famous for turning around Bed-Stuy's Boys and Girls High School, described in the News as "a national symbol of an oversized, out-of-control inner-city high school" when Mickens began his twenty year reign in 1984. Mickens was often controversial for policies like instituting school uniforms and issuing long suspensions. A Brooklyn blog calls him "a no-nonsense disciplinarian..he patrolled the halls with a walkie talkie, often with a bullhorn."NY1 talks to a former student who said, "I honestly haven't met anyone who can hold a candle to him...4,000 students in there, and he knew each and every one of us." A Facebook memorial group already has over 250 members and includes the comment from his granddaughter: "If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I would walk right up to heaven and bring (you) back." Memorial services will be held for Mickens next Friday and Saturday in Bed-Stuy.