1911 – 2004

PHILLIPS – Dr. Charles E. Thurlow, 92, died Wednesday, Feb. 4, at his home in Phillips.

Dr. Thurlow was born Nov. 7, 1911, at Burnham Jct., in the home of his paternal grandparents. He was the son of Dr. Norman C. Thurlow and Anna Martin Thurlow. His parents made their first home in Portland, moving to Fryeburg when he was four years old.

He was the eldest of four children. He attended public schools and graduated from Fryeburg Academy in the class of 1929. He took his pre-med courses at Bowdoin College, and received the degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine from Tufts University in 1935.

On June 30, of that year he married Myrtle Alice Brown of Bartlett, N.H. Dr. Samuel Elliot performed the ceremony in the Arlington Street Church in Boston Mass. That same year Dr. Thurlow became associated with Dr. Rupert Stratton of Rockland. At that time he served offices in Rockland, Vinalhaven, and the State Prison at Thomaston. On Sept. 1, 1936, he established a practice in Phillips, where he remained active until 1989.

Dr. Thurlow brought the first X-Ray machine to Franklin County. He performed X-Ray diagnosis for many of the area physicians and he was a member of the Staff at Franklin Memorial Hospital. Dr. Thurlow initiated the first Dental Head Start Program in the country, and in 1976 he was recognized for this achievement.

Dr. Thurlow devised and made in his laboratory obturators (a prosthetic device replacing the lost tissue in the oral cavity after surgical removal of tumors). He invented a way to make the appliance hollow, thus reducing the weight. One of his more significant achievements was restoring 85% of the maxilla in a woman who had had a tumor removed.

He was a quiet, home-loving man, an avid fisherman, well known in his dental practice and for his humerous and spicy stories. In addition to a very busy practice, Dr. Thurlow found time for many civic projects. He served as Chairman of the Town Committee for the Republican Party, acted as chair of the committee to rebuild the town after the business section of Phillips was destroyed by fire, and he served as President of the P.T.A. and was a member of the Elementary School Building Committee.

Dr. Thurlow was a life member of the Maine Dental Association, the American Dental Association, Pythagorean 11 Masonic Lodge at Fryeburg, the First Congregational Church of Fryeburg, and Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years; a son, Norman C. Thurlow II and his wife Judith Nottage of Hampden; three daughters, Susan Spencer Gagne and her husband Joseph of Bethlehem, Conn., Margeret Richman and her husband Richard of Metamora, Ill., and Melissa Yerxa of Jonesboro; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his parents; his brothers, John and William; and his sister, Elizabeth.