TOPSHAM – Charlotte C. Thulen, 78, passed away peacefully at her son and daughter-in-law’s home in Topsham on Friday, Nov. 25, after a 14-year journey with Alzheimer’s disease.

She was born at the Augusta General Hospital on April 5, 1927, the daughter of Maurice and Hilda (Johnson) Choate of Hallowell. She attended Hallowell schools and graduated from the Hallowell High School in 1945 in the commercial-business class.

During high school, she worked for Socony (Mobil) Fuel Terminal in Hallowell part time and then full time upon graduation for seven years.

On July 24, 1950, Charlotte married Herbert A. Thulen at the Baptist Church in Hallowell. The Rev. Robert Brackley performed the ceremony. The church was packed with standing room only. Everyone loved Charlotte.

Shortly after their son, Greg, was born in 1952, the family moved from Hallowell to Brunswick, where they purchased a small home on the Bath Road just up the road from what became the new location for Ernie’s Drive-In Restaurant.

As a couple, Charlotte helped her husband, Herb, to establish the family business, Ernie’s Drive-In Restaurant, which was a fixture in Brunswick for 40 years. It was the first drive-in restaurant in Brunswick with carhop service, where great food was served to many locals and seasonal travelers.

Charlotte loved and enjoyed spending time with her family and friends. She was always there to lend a helping hand when needed, especially for her two granddaughters.

Charlotte enjoyed being actively involved in her local church, Berean Baptist Church, where she and her husband were members, and where her family attended for many years. She also taught Sunday school and vacation Bible school and was involved with the Pioneer Girls program there for several years. She was actively involved in the Southern Maine Christian Women’s and Business Association, for which she served as chairperson for a few years.

Charlotte enjoyed annual trips to Florida and then retirement with her husband, Herb, in Hobe Sound, Fla.

She is survived by her husband, Herbert A. Thulen; a son, Gregory H. Thulen and his wife, Elaine, of Topsham; two granddaughters, Kathy E. Galgovitch and husband, Deni Galgovitch, of Lisbon Falls, and Suzanne M. Thulen of Topsham; a brother, Richard “Dick” M. Choate and his wife, Lucy Choate, of Hallowell; two sisters-in-law, Peggy A. Goodwin and husband, Richard L. Goodwin, of Naples, Fla., and Winthrop, and Katherine M. Hogerty of Hallowell; along with many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank her primary-care physician, Dr. John Parker, for his professional and thoughtful care, and also to give special thanks to CHANS Hospice Health Care and the visiting nurses and nurse’s aides from the Midcoast area.

Her husband, Herb, would also like to give special thanks to our daughter-in-law, Elaine, son, Greg, and two granddaughters, Kathy and Suzanne, for all of the tender loving care over the last year and seven months, which had made my darling Charlotte’s final days, until her graduation day to Heaven, as painless and loving as could ever have been.

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