Tanner family The Tanners were a family that lived in Coronation Street from 1939 to 1984 and one of them , Dennis Tanner , returned in 2011 . Originally , wedded couple Arnold Tanner and his pregnant sixteen - year old wife Elsie moved into 11 Coronation Street just before World War II , but Arnold left to join the navy leaving Elsie to take care of her newborn daughter Linda and later her son Dennis . Dennis was born as a result of Elsie being raped by Arnold after discovering she was had been having an affair while he was away . Arnold left in 1945 after the war , continuing to leave Elsie to raise their children . Her son Dennis grew up to be a troublemaker and on the wrong side of the law , and Linda went on to marry a polish man called Ivan Cheveski when she was eighteen . Dennis ended up in prison in 1960 after robbing a newsagents with his pal Jed Stone but attempted to mend his ways when released , and got himself a job , although he got into trouble now and again . Linda and Ivan had a baby boy together , Elsie ' s first grandchild Paul in 1961 , although both Linda and Ivan ' s relationship strained now and again . Also in 1961 , Arnold returned after an absence of fifteen years for a divorce in order to marry his girlfriend . Elsie gradually accepted after Arnold threatened to divorce her on grounds of adultery after a fling she had during the war . But Elsie got married again in 1967 to an old war flame named Steve Tanner , an American soldier . She briefly went to stay with him in America , but returned a few months later when they realised their romance was just a dream . Steve was murdered a year later by friend Joe Donelli , although it wasn ' t revealed until a few years later . Elsie ' s son Dennis flew the nest when marrying Jenny Sutton and moved to Bristol , but he ended up in trouble again - getting arrested for conning old age pensioners and serving two years . Elsie later married drunken Alan Howard , and moved away , but she returned when having enough of him . After spending her years at 11 Coronation Street , Elsie eventually left with her old flame Bill Gregory for Portugal and later got married , and this time it was a successful one . They spent the rest of their lives together until they died in a car crash in 2004 . By 2011 , Elsie ' s son Dennis became homeless , but ended up moving in with his old flame Rita Littlewood ( now Sullivan ) after crossing paths with her and the two eventually married in 2012 . Family History . Elsie Gregory ( née Grimshaw , previously Howard and Tanner ) . At the age of sixteen , Elsie Grimshaw got pregnant by Arnold Tanner , who was four years older than her . They where housed at 11 Coronation Street , but Arnold left after signing up for military service . A few months later , Elsie gave birth to their daughter Linda . During the war , Elsie had relationships with men , normally soldiers . When her rival Ena Sharples wrote to Arnold about what was happening , he returned on leave and ended up raping Elsie . She fell pregnant , and decided she wanted an abortion but couldn ' t go through with it , and gave birth to her son , Dennis . She would later marry three times since her divorce to Arnold . Her second husband was Steve Tanner , then she married Alan Howard and her fourth and final husband was Bill Gregory . Elsie and Gregory died in a car crash in 2004 . Linda Cheveski ( née Tanner ) . Linda and Ivan Cheveski met in the 1950s . By 1958 they were married and by 1964 they had two sons , Paul and Martin . Ivan ' s family were Polish while Linda ' s family , the Tanners were British . Ivan and Linda separated in 1984 . Dennis Tanner . Dennis returned to street in 2011 and resumed a friendship with old pal Rita Sullivan . Their friendship evolved into a romantic relationship and they married in June 2012 . Dennis was married to Jenny Sutton in 1968 but the marriage didn ' t last long and they divorced .