Mineola dedicated an historical marker at the nature preserve Saturday morning.

It was more like a family reunion.

Though the historical marker is for the Big Sandy Creek Bridge, with an accompanying story of the 1932 steel truss bridge, it has been recommissioned as the Dr. John Thomas Bridge, crossing a tributary of the nearby Sabine River.

Members of the Thomas family were in attendance and helped unveil the marker, after Mayor Jayne Lankford recounted stories about the family that contributed so much to the community, including Marilyn Thomas supporting the relocation and installation of the bridge financially.

Lankford started with the Thomas love story, with the doctor seeing the blue eyes of the masked nurse as he performed surgery during his residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

“They were a team,” she said.

They opened a practice in Mineola in 1966 and operated it for 32 years on W. Kilpatrick.

People would come to their house to seek medical treatment, the mayor said.

Lankford recalled Dr. Thomas was a pilot but sold his plane to replace Marilyn’s lost wedding rings.

Dr. Thomas died in 1998 and Mrs. Thomas in 2012.

Landmark Commission Chairman Jimmy Phillips called the Thomases amazing. “They meant so much to so many people,” he said.

The bridge itself once spanned Big Sandy Creek between Pine Mills and Little Hope, replacing a wooden structure.

When a new bridge was built, the truss bridge was moved to FM 2869 and then to County Road 3689 before going into storage.

It now serves as part of the preserve’s extensive walking trail along the old International and Great Northern Railroad bed, whose adjacent trestle is just on the west side of the Thomas bridge.

It represents a path forward, Phillips said, which is a perfect metaphor for the Thomases.