Ray Langton Raymond Anthony " Ray " Langton was a building partner of Len Fairclough and a Coronation Street resident from 1968 to 1978 . He was Deirdre Barlow ' s first husband and father of Tracy . An ex - borstal boy , Ray built up a reputation as a troublemaker . He first appeared in the Street in 1966 but was forced out by Len after he threatened Lucille Hewitt . Nevertheless , Ray turned up again two years later and Len gave him a job at his building firm , and invited him to move into his bachelor pad at No . 9 . Ray hoped to go into business for himself but eventually settled for a partnership with Len and Jerry Booth . Ray was something of a womaniser and he was involved with many women while living in the Street , including Sandra Butler , Audrey Fleming , Vicki Bright and Sue Silcock . In 1975 he married the yard ' s secretary Deirdre Hunt and they moved into No . 5 ; their daughter Tracy was born in 1977 . His roving eye soon led him into another affair however , with waitress Janice Stubbs . He ended the relationship before Deirdre found out , but the marriage finished anyway as Deirdre backed out of plans for the family ' s fresh start in Holland , and Ray went by himself . Ray absented himself for all of Tracy ' s early life , and eventually divorced Deirdre . In 2005 , he found out he had stomach cancer and decided to return to Weatherfield and make amends with Tracy before he died . After getting to know Tracy and her daughter Amy , Ray died at Deirdre and Ken Barlow ' s wedding reception at the Rovers . Biography . Ray Langton was born at 2 Gas Street . His mum , Mary , died when he and his sister Janice Langton were young and their father died shortly afterwards . After their parents ' deaths , Ray was in trouble with the police most of the time . After briefly staying around in the street in 1966 , he left but returned two years later and got into the building trade with Len Fairclough . He began a relationship with Deirdre Hunt and they later got married in 1975 . Together they had a daughter in 1977 who was named Tracy Langton . In 1978 , Ray began an affair with waitress Janice Stubbs and was found out by Deirdre so ended the affair . He then made plans to move to Holland for a new life and wanted Deirdre and Tracy to come with him , but at the last minute , Deirdre decided she didn ' t want to go with him . Ray then left the street on his own for a new life , leaving Deirdre behind to raise Tracy . However Ray did keep in contact most of the time and even sent Tracy presents , but this died down over the years . He later contacted Deirdre as he wanted a divorce as he found another woman in Holland who was pregnant with his child . Ray divorced from his second wife sometime around 2000 . When he discovered he had stomach cancer in 2005 , he returned to Weatherfield to track down Tracy in order to make amends . Ray arrived on the day of Ken and Deirdre ' s second wedding and hit baby Amy Barlow ' s pram . He met up with Deirdre , Blanche and Ken , at the hospital and realised that Amy was his granddaughter and that the mother was his daughter Tracy , who he hadn ' t seen since she was an infant . Ray revealed to everyone that he had stomach cancer and only had a certain amount of time to live and that he ' d been divorced for five years . He lodged at No . 3 with Emily Bishop who took him in to help him out . Tracy eventually softened towards her dad . Ray was in attendance Ken and Deirdre ' s wedding and wished the couple well however during the reception in the Rovers , Ray succumbed to his illness and passed away , much to the distress of Tracy . Quotes . " Hiya , Jerry " ( First line ) " Aye , me too " ( Final line to Deirdre Barlow )