johnschwenk
New Member
I'm very sorry to report, for those AKers who don't already know, that Ian Doyle Baren, chinacave on AK, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday, January 26th, 2019. He was 55 years old.
Ian was a very active AKer, posting as recently as October 31st, 2018. (My search yields many hundreds of posts going back to at least 2010.) He had many vintage audio projects, built and rebuilt dynamic and electrostatic speakers, but specialized in rebuilding tube amps and preamps.
He attended many "Frankenfests" (we went together to half a dozen) and other audio gatherings over the years and became friendly with many of you. He was a very sociable, caring, and friendly person and could make friends with just about anyone. He was one of the most accepting and least assuming people I've ever met.
But Ian had many passions, too numerous for me to come up with them all. Flying small planes, cars, cigars, caving, history, guns, music, photography, a voracious reader, etc.. Just one example is illustrated by the origin of his AK handle, chinacave. Ian was inducted into The Explorers Club for leading cave exploration expeditions into the People's Republic of China! He spoke, and could read and write, Mandarin Chinese.
Ian's funeral was held on January 31st in Katonah, NY, close to where he worked as Vice President of his brother Andrew's Architectural Hardward business (founded by their father, Paul Baren).
https://clarkassociatesfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/339/Ian-Baren/obituary.html#tribute-start
Ian knew and touched so many people in so many domains of his life that the funeral home was overfilled, standing room only and with people out in the hall. There were no parking spaces left. Yet, I, alone, know of several of his friends who weren't able to make it. Some who did flew in or drove long hours to get there. (I don't doubt that some more of you would have been there had you known in time.)
Ian was never married and had no kids of his own but loved his brother's children and grand children very much.
Ian and I were devoted friends for 42 years - since we were each 13. We started caving together at age 16 in a small CT cave and shared a surprising number of interests, not the least of which were hifi and electronics. I got the electrical engineering degree and sometimes was his electronics consultant since he was "just" an amateur.
I will have the sad priviledge of inheriting his hifi stuff. Ian worked on other people's stuff and traded a lot. If Ian had an item of yours, let me know and I'll try to get it back to you eventually. I know he was rebuilding some preamps for an older CT gentleman named Gerry (or Jerry) but I don't think he was an AKer. If anyone can get me more information on that, please do. I can be reached at johnschwenk AT juno DOT com.
Rest in peace, Ian. I'm going to miss you for the rest of my life.
Ian was a very active AKer, posting as recently as October 31st, 2018. (My search yields many hundreds of posts going back to at least 2010.) He had many vintage audio projects, built and rebuilt dynamic and electrostatic speakers, but specialized in rebuilding tube amps and preamps.
He attended many "Frankenfests" (we went together to half a dozen) and other audio gatherings over the years and became friendly with many of you. He was a very sociable, caring, and friendly person and could make friends with just about anyone. He was one of the most accepting and least assuming people I've ever met.
But Ian had many passions, too numerous for me to come up with them all. Flying small planes, cars, cigars, caving, history, guns, music, photography, a voracious reader, etc.. Just one example is illustrated by the origin of his AK handle, chinacave. Ian was inducted into The Explorers Club for leading cave exploration expeditions into the People's Republic of China! He spoke, and could read and write, Mandarin Chinese.
Ian's funeral was held on January 31st in Katonah, NY, close to where he worked as Vice President of his brother Andrew's Architectural Hardward business (founded by their father, Paul Baren).
https://clarkassociatesfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/339/Ian-Baren/obituary.html#tribute-start
Ian knew and touched so many people in so many domains of his life that the funeral home was overfilled, standing room only and with people out in the hall. There were no parking spaces left. Yet, I, alone, know of several of his friends who weren't able to make it. Some who did flew in or drove long hours to get there. (I don't doubt that some more of you would have been there had you known in time.)
Ian was never married and had no kids of his own but loved his brother's children and grand children very much.
Ian and I were devoted friends for 42 years - since we were each 13. We started caving together at age 16 in a small CT cave and shared a surprising number of interests, not the least of which were hifi and electronics. I got the electrical engineering degree and sometimes was his electronics consultant since he was "just" an amateur.
I will have the sad priviledge of inheriting his hifi stuff. Ian worked on other people's stuff and traded a lot. If Ian had an item of yours, let me know and I'll try to get it back to you eventually. I know he was rebuilding some preamps for an older CT gentleman named Gerry (or Jerry) but I don't think he was an AKer. If anyone can get me more information on that, please do. I can be reached at johnschwenk AT juno DOT com.
Rest in peace, Ian. I'm going to miss you for the rest of my life.
I hope he was able to get it fixed. RIP Ian, and may you be hanging out with Frank and Don in heaven.
