The new access road to the Graham Creek Nature Preserve in Foley got a new name on Friday.

The road was dedicated Philomene Holmes Boulevard to honor its namesake and the ceremony was attended by her children. Holmes was a long-time resident of Foley and she was married to the city’s doctor. When her husband was away, Holmes was known to stand in for him. She was also a midwife and delivered a great number of babies in the area.

Foley Mayor John Koniar spoke about the nature preserve and his appreciation for the Holmes family.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for us and we appreciate the Holmes family. We hope you will bring your children and your grandchildren to come see the nature preserve,” Koniar said.

Foley Councilman Ralph Hellmich shared his remembrances of Holmes as well.

“We do appreciate what all of the Holmes family have done. I was very young and I didn’t know the brothdidn’t know the brothers very well because they were so much older than me. Philomene used to come by our house all the time and she kind of helped raise my brother and I…she probably helped deliver a lot of people in Foley here too.

“One of the things I always remember is that she would come by a lot, everyday. I would be playing in the yard and she would say, ‘Has your Mom and Dad spanked you this week?’ and we said, “No ma’am. We have been good.’ She said ‘You need to do that, it gets the meanness out of the boys. I used to do that to my boys.’ It just scared us to death because we thought she might convince mom that.

She was a great lady and she just meant so much to this community. And the whole Holmes family is much appreciated,” Hellmich said.

The road is currently crushed rock and only connects to a few trails in the preserve. The city plans to eventually pave the road and connect it with the rest of the preserve.