He was born in Gardiner, Maine, on June 4, 1928, at Gardiner Hospital, son to Albert and Vivian Thulen of Farmingdale, Maine. He attended Gardiner schools and graduated from Bentley College in Boston, Mass., in 1950.
While in school in Gardiner he worked for the town part-time sanding roads in the winter and regularly worked in the A & P Grocery Store, stocking shelves and bagging groceries and learned sound business practices there. Also worked for his brother Ernest Thulen as a short order cook, at the family business Ernie’s Drive-In in Farmingdale, Maine, which was the beginning of a lifelong career in the restaurant business, which he was successful at for 40 years.
On July 24, 1950, he married Charlotte E. Choate and they became Mr. and Mrs. Herbert A. Thulen at Hallowell Baptist Church in Hallowell, Maine.
In 1949, he leased land from Harry C. Crooker and built and operated Ernie’s Drive-In in Brunswick on the Bath Road (which is the China Rose today) until 1958, then bought land on the Bath Road and built a new Ernie’s Drive-In Building (which is Cameron’s Lobster House today) and opened in 1959 and operated for 40 years until closing for retirement in 1989. The Ernie’s Drive-In Restaurant was a fixture of Brunswick, with good portions of great food, clams, onion rings and the famous coleslaw were favorites of many locals and many travelers. It had a drive-in and carhop atmosphere so popular of the 1950s through the 1970s. It was the first drive-in restaurant established in Brunswick in 1949.
He loved and enjoyed his family and was always there to help and lend a hand when needed. He enjoyed working hard and cooking good food, good portions and for a fair price. He enjoyed the work and the many people who came to eat. He loved to talk and any subject could be a conversation. He was always a Red Sox fan, win or lose all the same. He was total excitement when the Red Sox won another World Series and he watched every game on TV.
He enjoyed his annual trips to Florida each year and retired there for many years with wife Charlotte.
He attended and had been a member of Berean Baptist Church in Brunswick, Maine, for many years. He also had been an usher and trustee of the church for periods of time as well.
He was predeceased by his parents and wife Charlotte E. Thulen, of 55 years and his brother Ernest Thulen and sister Azelea Cole.
Survivors include a son Gregory and wife Elaine of Topsham, Maine and granddaughters Kathy E. Galovitch and husband Deni of Topsham, Maine and Suzanne T. Stanton and husband Peter of Bowdoinham, Maine. Three great-grandsons, Caleb, Cody Galgovitch and Cameron Stanton. Two sisters Kathrine Hogerty of Hallowell, Maine and Peggy and husband Richard Goodwin of Augusta, Maine and Naples, Fla. Also many nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours were held Monday, Nov. 25, 2013, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal St., Brunswick, Maine. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, with the Rev. Harold Wheeler officiating. Following the funeral will be a graveside burial for immediate family only at Gracelawn Cemetery in Auburn, Maine.
For those unable to attend, condolences to the family may be expressed and a tribute of her life viewed at www.brackettfuneralhome.c om.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Chans Home Health and Hospice Care, 60 Baribeau Drive, Brunswick, Maine 04011.
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