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Paul Natoli
Person of the Year Award
Paul Natoli is President, CEO and Sole Owner of Joseph A. Natoli Construction Corporation.
A graduate of Purdue University, Paul joined Natoli Construction in 1989 and worked his way up the company’s ranks to his current position. Paul is responsible for all company operations. Clients value his hands-on approach and accessibility. Under Paul’s leadership, the company increased its growth and reputation which enabled the company to be awarded and successfully complete high-profile projects with prestigious clients, including major renovations of the Statue of Liberty and construction of the New York Giants headquarters and training facilities, among other notable projects.
An advocate for the construction industry, Paul is an executive board member as well as Vice-Chairman of the Associated Construction Contractors of New Jersey (ACCNJ) and past president of the Building Contractors Association of New Jersey (BCANJ). He has also served as a member of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Advisory Committee and Rutgers University’s Construction Project Management Certificate Program Advisory Board.
In 2020, Paul was honored with a Catholic Charities Lifetime Achievement Award for his longtime service to the Department for Persons with Disabilities’ ministry of caring, including his participation on its Long-Term Senior Care and Casey Classic Golf Outing committees. The Boy Scouts of America, Patriots Path Council also recognized Paul’s extensive volunteer efforts with a 2016 Man of the Year Award. Paul is Past President of the Board of Governors of Rockaway River Country Club in Denville, New Jersey, and currently sits on its Membership Committee.
Paul resides in Mountain Lakes with his wife, Dawn. They have two grown children, Nicole and John.
Ariel J. Luna has dedicated over 23 years to serving veterans in higher education and government. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Luna enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2000, serving as a communication soldier at Fort Gordon, Georgia, South Korea, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After leaving active duty in 2002, he joined the NY National Guard and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004-2005). During his service, Luna pursued higher education, obtaining his bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College and a master's in administrative science from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2012.
Ariel Jacob Luna
Veteran Partner of Year Award
Luna's career in veteran services began in 2007 at NYC College of Technology where, despite limited resources, he established comprehensive support for over 500 veterans in just two years. In 2009, he became director of veteran services at Fairleigh Dickinson University, creating a one-stop resource center and helping more than 900 veterans obtain degrees during his tenure.
In 2015, Luna was appointed Director of Veteran Services for Bergen County by County Executive James Tedesco III. His accomplishments include helping Bergen County become the 28th community in the U.S. to effectively end veteran homelessness in 2016, securing employment for 154 veterans, and assisting over 350 veterans with housing. He also established a cost-effective VA Work Study program and created the pivotal Homeless Veteran Liaison position.
Luna's contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including the New Jersey American Legion's "Homeless Veteran's Outreach Award" (2017), recognition as the "VA Veteran of the Day" (2018), and honors at the Brenner Foundation Veteran Services Gala (2018). He has been featured in national campaigns highlighting his work with homeless veterans, including a Rocket Mortgage Community Solutions commercial in 2021.
From 2021-2022, Luna served as Deputy Director for the Office of Government and Community Relations at the NJ Department of Transportation. He co-founded the NJ SOS Veteran Stakeholders Group, organizing networking opportunities and veteran service referrals across Northern New Jersey. He also helped coordinate Suicide Awareness Seminars in communities including Elmwood Park, Newark, and Trenton. He also manages the EHA (Emergency Housing Assistance) program, which has successfully taken 270 veterans off the streets and connected them to service providers for further support since the program started in February 2024.
Luna is married to Shevonne Murray-Luna, and they have 2 beautiful daughters, Mariah Luna and Alexandra Luna.John Hughes
Knight of the Year Award
John V. Hughes is a retired Utility consultant with PSE&G, and the International Firm of Power Industry Consulting Inc, in Marietta Ga. He served from 2001 to 2003, as a delegate to the European, and SAP Utility Conference in Waldorf, Germany. Hughes was born, and raised in Jersey City, the sixth child of James and Mary Hughes. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1914 from County Donegal, Ireland. He a graduate of Sacred Heart Grammar School, St. Aloysius High School, and Newark College of Engineering.
Hughes is honored today, for his more than seventy years of distinguished humanitarian service to church, country, and community. To honor his dedication, and commitment to service, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Knights of Columbus awarded him with a Life Time Membership.
A business colleague is quoted as saying, “I always considered it an honor, to have worked with you, and your wife Joan, through Project Children, your Pro-Life Ministry, children’s education, and commitment to the military wounded, and veteran’s community. Your commitment to the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy was, and is incomparable. I have never worked with anyone, as dedicated to a cause as you. Commitment to your avocation was so resolute, your entire family joined your endeavors.”
From early childhood, every spare moment has been spent organizing, managing, and fund raising for various causes. For decades, he was a Coordinator for Project Children, an international children’s charity in Troubled Northeast, Ireland. His numerous services to the church, and community include President of St. Philip Catholic School Board, and science advisor for the design, and construction of the school science laboratory.
Hughes is the Founder, and currently serves as the State Co- Chairman, of the New Jersey Knights of Columbus/Catholic Charities Army Tank Pull Competition, held annually on the second Sunday of June in Clifton, New Jersey. Funds from this fourteen-year event have surpassed, One million Nine hundred thousand dollars to aid combat military wounded, and veterans. In 2025, he plans to celebrate a major milestone of the Army Tank Pull Competition, reaching the Target of Two Million Dollars raised in support of the wounded veterans community.
He has retired from most of his pastime hobbies which included, cabinetry, electronics, photography, skiing, and what passed as golf. Current involvement, includes leadership in fraternal organizations and volunteer Boards of Directors. He proudly Served, as an Artillery NCO with the First Army and 102st. Armored Cavalry Regiment, for more than a decade.
Hughes celebrated fifty-three-years of marriage to the love of his life, and college sweetheart Joan, and he is the proud father of Sean, William, Catherine, and his “adopted” Belfast born Project Children son, Colm Hamill. -
To register, please visit www.ccpaterson.org/wiegand50