Longtime AV industry fixture Mark Aling, who spent over two decades bringing Paradigm Electronics to prominence, passed away at the age of 56 peacefully at home on Friday, August 20.

Aling spent 21 years at Paradigm Electronics where he rose to the position of senior director of marketing. His jovial laugh and broad smile were a constant fixture at trade shows for decades where he helped elevate the Canadian company to be one the most-used speaker brands in custom installation. After leaving Paradigm in 2015, he worked for several AV media outlets, most recently at Soundstage International.

As many people knew, Aling’s favorite days would start with golf and end in a night of food and drinks at the local pub, listening to great tunes, and recapping his game. Mark also enjoyed spending hours mastering the art of cooking the perfect meal. He became a self-taught expert in using his smoker and the Big Green Egg. Anyone who had the privilege to experience his cooking quickly fell in love.

Aling was the type of man that people would drive hours at the drop of a dime to come see. His infectious smile and amount of love he had would fill friends, family, and strangers. To Mark, it didn’t matter who you were you always had a place in his life, and he would go out of his way to make that known. He was a rare combination of someone who had a love of life and a firm understanding of what was important — the simplicity of living a life with those you love. Patrón and Coors Light companies are devastated by his loss.

In January, Aling was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Many in the industry had rallied around him when the news broke in recent weeks.

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He will be deeply missed by his beloved fiancée Nicole; his loving children Madison, Zack (Hope), Joseph and Andrew; and his devoted mother Juanez. Mark will be missed by his siblings Elizabeth (Jay) and Bob (Helen) and his nieces and nephews Emily (Matthew), Cameron, Andrew, William and Ellie. He is predeceased by his father Keith. He will truly be missed by a wealth of family, and friends.

A celebration of life will be organized at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Hamilton Good Shephard would be sincerely appreciated.

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