Charlotte was born to Charles and Mathilda Maier in the small German-Russian farming town of Linton, North Dakota on November 16, 1924. She was the ninth of thirteen children.

Charlotte and her family led a frugal life, typical of the hard-working German farmer community found in Linton. Her mother, Mathilda, a talented seamstress, sewed the family's clothing. A large garden and livestock provided much of the family's food. Charlotte mentioned shortly before her death that her father, Charles, often walked the six miles to and from the family farm to save gasoline expense. The family's cash income came from the sale of the wheat harvest. Charlotte, like all her siblings, worked on the farm at the critical harvest time, donning scarf and sunglasses while shocking wheat.

Her life in Linton revolved around her family and her friends and included activities such as ice skating, roller skating, and participating in the cheer section for Linton High School's basketball team. She was a second mother to her four younger brothers. She attended Linton's Evangelical Lutheran Church and had perfect attendance at Sunday school over an eight-year period.

The turning point in her life was her decision to move to Seattle in 1943 after graduation from high school. Rather than live a small-town life in North Dakota, Charlotte pursued a more adventurous course, a course that would see her travel around the world three times as she led a life she could never have imagined as a North Dakota farm girl.
In Seattle, Charlotte worked for Boeing Aircraft on a bomber assembly line and later for the Seattle Port Authority.

Captain Leslie C. Acton, an Army Air Corps P38 Lightning pilot who had served in China, entered her life in 1945 in a Seattle roller skating rink. Taking to each other in a chance encounter, they skated late into the night at the roller rink, beginning a relationship that would see a marriage lasting 68 years.

Charlotte married Les on Mother's Day, May 12, 1946, at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Linton, her hometown.
Les and Charlotte arrived in Les' hometown of Tucson, Arizona, in 1947. From 1947-1951, Charlotte worked at various jobs to support Les as he pursued a degree in Mining Engineering at the University of Arizona. Their first son, Bob, was born in 1949, in Tucson.

Les graduated from the University of Arizona in 1951 with a degree in Mining Engineering and in May of 1951 began his long mining career at Magma Copper Corporation's mine in Superior, Arizona.

Charlotte's second son, Tim, was born in 1951 in Tucson. Charlotte joined Les in Superior with Bob and Tim shortly after Tim's birth. Within months, Charlotte and her family moved from Superior to Oracle, Arizona, where Les had transferred to Magma's new San Manuel mine.

From 1951 to 1976, Charlotte's husband Les pursued an ever-advancing mining career with Magma Copper. A third son, John, arrived in 1955. While Les' career advanced, Charlotte as a housewife mothered three sons, learned to drive at age 24, and became a proficient bridge player. She particularly loved the carnations and roses she would grow in the flower gardens Les built for her in the many houses in which they would live in the vicinity of the San Manuel Mine. She became an able adjunct to her husband's career by hosting bridge parties for other couples in the San Manuel mining community.

Les completed his Magma career in 1976 while serving as General Manager of Magma Copper's property in Superior, AZ. After 25 years at Magma, Les accepted an offer from Freeport-McMoran Corporation to become the Assistant General Manager at Freeport's mining project in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

Charlotte's greatest adventure with her husband had begun.
From 1976 – 1986, Charlotte and Les lived in the exotic town of Tembagapura, a town constructed by Freeport to support its Ertsberg copper and gold mine. Located high in the New Guinea rain forest surrounded by glacier-topped mountains, Tembagapura lay below the 14,000-foot elevation mine itself. The town, similar to a U.S. subdivision in appearance, contained populations of Americans, Australians, and Indonesians. Stone Age natives inhabited the rainforest and could often be found walking semi-naked through the streets of Tembagapura.

Les assumed the position of General Manager of Freeport McMoran Indonesia in 1977. Functioning as the unofficial "First Lady," Charlotte hosted innumerable dinners, parties, and receptions involving dignitaries, government officials, investors, visiting Freeport executives, and many other types of visitors. She ably supported her husband in her role as hostess-in-chief.

In Tembagapura, Charlotte continued her lifelong passion for bridge. A daily event was afternoon bridge with her bridge group, a group in which membership was highly prized.

Charlotte greatly enjoyed trips in the company helicopter, where she occupied the co-pilot seat while Les rode behind. She logged hundreds of hours of helicopter flight while in New Guinea.

Les supported Charlotte as well, once having to help rescue her from a burning motorboat adrift in a snake and crocodile-infested river.

Over the course of their ten-year tenure in Tembagapura, Charlotte and Les' travels would include Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Singapore. Tahiti was added to her list when her flight to Australia was diverted due to a work action. Of the great hotels in which she and Les had stayed, her favorite was the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1986, the couple returned to the U.S. where Les took a new assignment at Freeport's then New York City headquarters. Les retired from Freeport in 1987 and the two returned home to Oro Valley, AZ.

For the next 28 years, until her death, Charlotte lived with Les in Oro Valley. During her retirement years she was involved with her children and grandchildren in many ways. She particularly enjoyed her son John's daughters' participation in travel softball teams, and she and Les accompanied him and his family on many softball tourney trips around the United States. Early on they traveled extensively, including making a journey by van from Moscow, USSR, to Warsaw, Poland. Finland, England, Italy, and France were also added to their travel list during retirement.

At the time of her death, Charlotte had just celebrated her 68th wedding anniversary with Les.

She is survived by her husband, Les; her sons, Bob, Tim, and John; 10 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two brothers.

A private graveside service for family and invited close friends was held for her at Evergreen Cemetery on June 3, 2014.