Pastor Darrell Hopp Found His Faith Following Cancer Diagnosis At Age 32

It might come as a surprise to many people who know him, but Pastor Darrell Hopp didn’t become a person of strong faith until he was well into adulthood.

Even after getting baptized when he was 21 years old at the request of his new bride Carolyn (Carnes), Darrell didn’t devote his life to Jesus Christ until he was 32 years old and about to begin a series of extensive radiation treatments to combat an aggressive case of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

“In ’68, I found out I had cancer,” he said. “They told me five (years) and they told her (Carolyn) I’d probably make it two years.”

The inoperable tumor inside his body was eight inches long, extending from his stomach to his neck. The tumor was pushing many of his organs up his back and pressing them against his heart. The only treatment option at the time was radiation.

The night before his treatment began, Darrell did something he had not done his entire life – he prayed.

“When that (cancer) happened, I didn’t know what to do. It was really bad,” he said. “I had never prayed in my life. I heard my mom pray a couple times, but we never went to church (when I was a child). “I wanted to pray for our kids, but I hadn’t done anything, yet. Finally, I just said, “’Lord, I’ll live for you or die for you. Amen.’”

That short prayer was the start of a lasting journey of faith and humble devotion to his Lord.

Carolyn recalls there weren’t a lot of cancer treatment options locally at the time of Darrell’s diagnosis.

“There were only like four cancer doctors in Omaha,” she said. “They wanted us to go to either Boston, Colorado or Texas (for treatment).”

With young children at home, going away for treatment wasn’t an option for the Hopps, so they chose Methodist Hospital in Omaha.

“He took two shots of nitrogen mustard gas and they were afraid - they didn’t know what it would do to his tumor,” said Carolyn. “They said it would either shatter it and scatter it all over his body or it would shrink it. They did the nitrogen mustard gas first to kind of get a feel for what was going to happen.”

The scheduled series of 25 radiation treatments began in January 1969 and carried over into the spring. Darrell was ill throughout the process and lost a considerable amount of weight. It was a long haul and doctors were uncertain if the treatments were actually working. To complicate matters, before he had completed the entire series, the treatments had to be stopped because his white blood count fell to a dangerously low level.

His white blood count remained low throughout the spring and summer of ’69, but it didn’t stop Darrell from taking up farming and moving on with his life.
In December, it was time for a check-up. After Darrell answered a series of questions, doctors delivered some unexpected news.

“They said, ‘Darrell, we can’t find cancer anywhere in your body,’” Carolyn recalled.

The miraculous news strengthened Darrell’s faith. He became a student of the Bible and continued to farm into the farm crisis of the 1980s.

He began doing carpentry and construction work in the mid 1980s. At about the same time, he was approached by a well-known Christian pastor in the community - Wayne Zeigler, who was getting ready to retire. Pastor Zeigler asked and encouraged

Darrell to become a lay minister in the church. Darrell was taken back by Pastor Zeigler’s request, but agreed and enrolled in a lay pastor program, which took him nearly two years to complete.

“Through the Christian Church, The Disciples Of Christ Church, the had a home program and you had a mentor,” said Carolyn. “His mentor lived in Red Oak.”

During his study, which included reading 18 books, Darrell filled in for pastors at churches in Red Oak, Council Bluffs and Plattsmouth. He completed the program in 1986 and received his lay pastor’s license.

Shortly after getting his pastor license, a friend whose wife had died asked Pastor Hopp to preside over the funeral. He nervously honored his friend’s request.

“They never taught me a thing about funerals or weddings,” he recalled.

That same year, Pastor Hopp became a preacher at Bartlett Community Church, the house of worship he continues to pastor at today.

Since 1986, Pastor Hopp has presided over nearly 350 funerals and 85 weddings at churches and venues throughout Mills and Fremont counties. He’s one of the most recognizable and relatable pastors in the community.

“People like him for the services he’s done,” said Carolyn.

Pastor Hopp is celebrating his 40th year as a pastor in 2026 and his 90th birthday.

He and Carolyn have been married for 68 years. All three milestones will be celebrated during an open house Saturday, Oct. 31 from 1:30-3:30 p.m., at the Bloom Senior Center in Glenwood.

The Hopps were married Feb. 20, 1958, at the Broadway Methodist Church in Council Bluffs. They have three children (Chrystal, Lynn and Clark), seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Saturday’s celebration doesn’t mean Pastor Hopp is ready to retire. He said he’d like to continue serving as a pastor for as long as he’s wanted by the congregation at Bartlett Community Church and capable of doing the job. He quipped that if he happens to use one of past sermons, current members of the congregation probably aren’t going to recognize it. The congregation is made up of many second- and third-generation worshippers.
“I saved all my sermons so I can pick out something,” he said. “There’s only four (worshippers) left there from when I started.”