In brief: Services set for gospel singer Merrill Womach

A funeral for Merrill Womach, a gospel singer whose songs played in funeral homes across the country, will be 2 p.m. Jan. 10 at Fourth Memorial Church in Spokane.

He was 87 when he died Dec. 28.

Womach suffered third-degree burns in a plane crash in 1961 that left his face and hands disfigured.

After the crash, he spent 50 weeks in the hospital. Within months, Womach was back singing in church. He went on to become a successful businessman and recording artist. He headlined concerts at the Spokane Opera House and was named Spokane’s Citizen of the Year in 1976 by then-Mayor David Rodgers.

A dozen years after the crash, a documentary, “He Restoreth My Soul,” was made about Womach in which he and his family recount the crash, his recovery and their faith.

“If some way we could go back and blueprint our own lives and say this is what we would like to have happen in the next 12 years, we wouldn’t change one bit of it,” he said at the end of the film.

Staff report

Woman with kids in car arrested after stop

A 43-year-old woman who told officers she had “way too much” to drink was arrested on New Year’s Day after allegedly kicking an officer in the groin.

A Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy received a report of a reckless driver on Interstate 90 about 7:45 p.m., according to court documents.

The officer located Christian Rhodes’ vehicle on Barker Road, witnessed it swerving and tailgating and stopped it, court records say. Officers found two young children in the back seat.

A Washington State Patrol trooper arrived and arrested Rhodes. She became belligerent and kicked at officers, court records say. Officers put her in the patrol car, where she kicked out the back window.

Rhodes faces charges of drunken driving, assault and reckless endangerment.

Jaclyn Archer