Correspondent photo / Nancilynn Gatta First Friday Club of Greater Youngstown speaker Margie Cretella, left, talks to Shirley Bator of Poland after her talk based on her book “Have You Seen my Brother? Discovering God is Good When in a Tragedy.” She used the journals she kept about her brother, Rev. Stephen Popovich, and his journey through paralysis.

CANFIELD — “My brother’s mantra was ‘ God is good.’ He would say to me, ‘God is good, Marge, God is good.'”

That is what Margie Cretella said about her late brother the Rev. Stephen Popovich’s positive attitude even after his 2013 car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Cretella was the speaker at the First Friday Club of Greater Youngstown’s talk on Feb 5 at Avion on the Water.

“I thought ‘how could you think that? You’re in a wheelchair and you can’t walk. You can hardly do the things you used to do. You can’t really use your hands that well.’ He would still say,’ God is good,'” Cretella told the audience.

She said she wanted to spend more time with Popovich to understand what she was missing and why she questioned God’s plan yet he did not.

The journal that she kept from the time of Popovich’s Nov. 13, 2013, accident, his paralysis journey and his death became the basis of her book, “Have You Seen My Brother? Discovering that God is Good When in a Tragedy.”

Born on Nov. 24, 1954, Popovich attended St. Matthias School, became an altar server and lector, graduated from Youngstown State University and then went to the seminary. He served as a priest in the Youngstown Diocese.

She described his years before and after the accident as a deck of cards.

“His cards were stacked. He had a lot of kings, queens and jacks, but his stack of cards came tumbling down and his life was turned upside down,” Cretella said.

Despite the tragedy, her talk was quite uplifting. Cretella described how Popovich found a way to turn this adversity into something that would be a blessing for everyone he met.

“He didn’t let that card he was dealt keep him from spreading the word of God and teaching people the true meaning of faith even as he sat in a wheelchair,” Cretella said.

She told attendees, “That tough card that you are dealt and finding a way to turn it into a blessing may be the greatest lesson in your life.”

Popovich ministered for 43 years, even when he lived in the nursing home.

“He would have the nurses cut out obituaries of people that died and have them taped on his wall. I said, ‘Wow, you know all those people who passed away?’ He said, ‘I know a few of them, but some of those people don’t have anyone to pray for them and I have the time,'” she said.

She described his accident as a new normal for her family.

“It was almost like he knew that day was coming. At one point, he gave me this book called, ‘You’ll Get Through This’ by Max Lucado. My husband and I were visiting our kids in South Carolina to plan a wedding for our son, Joe, and I had the book open. I was reading these words at the exact moment of his accident: ‘You’ll get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick, but God will use this mess for good. In the meantime, don’t be foolish or naive, but don’t despair either. With God’s help, you’ll get through this.'”

Popovich celebrated Mass from his wheelchair for as long as he could.

“A carpenter friend of my husband’s made a special altar for him to use at the nursing home so he could get his wheelchair under it,” Cretella said.

When he died, she did not know what to do with it, so she contacted Bishop David Bonnar. He did not have an altar at his residence, so she gave him the altar.

Cretella shared items from Popovich’s life such as his favorite T-shirts featuring superheroes Batman and Superman, Johnny Cash, his favorite football team, the New York Jets, and Cardinal Mooney High School.

He ate a glazed donut and drank coffee while writing his homily for St. Paul Church in New Middletown, where he was pastor before his accident. Cretella gave away a Dunkin Donuts gift card to an audience member and told them to enjoy a glazed donut in his honor.

She also said the Serenity Prayer was hanging on his wall at the nursing facility. Popovich said it every time he entered and exited his room.

When Cretella moved to South Carolina, she brought it with her.

Popovich died of COVID-19 on Jan. 14, 2024, after a 12-day stay in the hospital.

After his death, Cretella reflected, “I may have wanted to change a lot of things in the last 10 years, but I would not be the person I am today if I would have done so. Even in his last days in the hospital, he never questioned or said, ‘Why?'”

She ended her talk with a reminder and a thought about dealing with grief.

“I try to remember all the time that no matter what’s going on, God loves me. God knows best.”

She also said, “The nice thought about grief is that you can’t spend your whole life with them anymore, but they got to spend their whole life with you.”