Joel Scot Naftelberg

November 25, 1956 – May 13, 2022
A courageous community pillar for many, Joel Scot Naftelberg died Friday, May 13, 2022 at home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, surrounded by family.
Born in Bayside, Queens, Joel was the youngest son of the late Hyman and Frances Naftelberg and spent his formative years in New York City; he graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing communications from Baruch College.
With a brain naturally adept at sales, marketing, math, and talking to strangers, his career path was nonlinear, self-driven, and impressive. Through his professional transitions, he applied his accumulated skills, passions, and instincts, leading to roles as a business development and marketing professional within both corporate and entertainment industries.
Music was always at his core from a very young age. With a well-known and celebrated love of The Who and Bruce Springsteen, Joel’s passion for live music was one he was always excited to share, attending concerts as often as he could with family and friends. His rock ‘n’ roll stories were unmatched, and his ability to procure the best seats for any venue never failed to deliver or impress.
A collector his entire life, his cars became a focal point when he bought his first pre-owned Mazda Miata at the turn of the century. Through the years he purchased, customized, tinkered with, obsessed over, cleaned, polished, and eventually sold many more. When the warmer weather arrived, he could often be seen zipping around with the top down, always finding any excuse for a drive, long or short. Even in his final days, he still had his foot on the gas.
Joel loved being with and around people, and he spent much of his life in service to others. For nearly a decade he was an organizational leader with Montclair Emergency Services for Hope, Inc., a local faith-based organization dedicated to providing basic and essential services to Montclair’s most vulnerable. Beyond the pride he took in scheduling and guiding volunteers, he loved to meet clients in the MESH Café, learn their stories, and tell a little bit of his own.
In the world of anonymous recovery, Joel was infamous, living most of his life humbly by the twelve steps and touching the lives of thousands through his own struggles with addiction. His willingness to share himself and speak his own history not only benefited his global community but also brightened his spirit and faith throughout many chapters of his life, and especially toward the end of it.
Most recently, Joel was a member of the pastoral care team at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair and a regular volunteer at BlueCrest Recovery Center, administering support to others even as his own cancers progressed.
Joel was predeceased by his brother, Steven Naftelberg, and his parents. He is survived by his loving family: his wife, Beth Smith; daughter, Chelsea Naftelberg Williams and son-in-law, Jared Williams; son, Harrison Naftelberg; sister and brother-in-law, Jacqueline Naftelberg Kapnek and Avi Kapnek; sister-in-law Karen Naftelberg; and many nieces and nephews. They will remember his stories, advice, and laughter for decades to come.
The family will be holding a celebration of life service on Sunday, June 19, 2022 at 1:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, located at 67 Church Street in Montclair, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Joel’s memory may be sent to:
Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair.  https://onrealm.org/uumontclair/-/give/
Scroll to the bottom of the dropdown menu to select “Gifts & Memorials” and include Joel’s name in the memo. Donors may also mail a check payable to UUCM with Joel’s name in the memo.
BlueCrest Recovery Center, 482 Notch Road, Woodland Park, NJ 07424. Mail a check payable to BlueCrest Recovery Center with Joel’s name in the memo.
Montclair Emergency Services for Hope, Inc. P.O. Box 1919, Montclair, NJ 07042. Mail a check payable to MESH, Inc. with Joel’s name in the memo.