Wifi Hifi is saddened to report the passing of Mark Aling, a well-known name in the Canadian consumer electronics industry with a career spanning 30-years, many as the head of marketing for Mississauga-based Paradigm Electronics. Mark passed away on Friday, August 20 and was 56 years old.
Aling, a long-time resident of Burlington, Ontario, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, earlier this year.
Aling graduated from Sheridan College in 1992 in Mississauga. In 1994, he joined Paradigm Electronics where he remained until 2014. In addition to branding for Paradigm, Mark was also responsible for the MartinLogan and Anthem brands, which were purchased by Paradigm during Mark’s tenure.
In 2015, after two decades of running ads in most consumer and trade publications dedicated to consumer audio, Mark moved to the other side, selling ad space for TEN: The Enthusiast Network,. And then The SoundStage! Network in 2018. Most recently, Mark was acting as a brand advisor for Clarus and Tributaries Cables.
“Mark took me under his wing as a young buck in the industry and he very quickly became my mentor, family, and very best friend,” said Erin Phillips.”He was inherently kind, selfless, quick-witted, and had a deep belly chuckle that was incredibly contagious. There isn’t a single soul whose path he crossed that wasn’t touched by him. He left his mark everywhere he went and for that and so much more, he will be dearly missed.”
Mark’s obituary reads:
Mark passed peacefully at home on Friday, August 20th at the age of 56. Mark 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. Mark is predeceased by his father Keith. He will truly be missed by a wealth of family, and friends.
As much as people knew, Marks 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.
Mark 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 the loss of Mark. A celebration of life will be organized at a later date.
Mark was an avid supporter of Canadian trade publications, first with Marketnews and later WiFi HiFi. He knew that the heart of the industry was community and he rarely said no to supporting our publication or our industry event, Canada Night. Mark would arrive at Canada Night with a crew from Paradigm and his core accounts and stay right to the end, then thanking us for putting on the night, even though it was his money that made the event possible. A incredibly classy man that will be dearly missed.
The GoFundMe campaign remains online, and is close to reaching the goal of $50,000 to assist Aling’s survivors with medical expenses.