Frank Barlow Frank Barlow was a Coronation Street resident from 1938 to 1964 , moving into No . 3 with his wife Ida shortly before World War II . Their two children , Ken and David , were born in 1939 and 1942 . A postman , Frank was devoted to providing for his family and was devastated when Ida was hit by a bus in 1961 . Frank spent the next few years trying to rebuild his life , and eventually left his job to open a DIY shop . He also dated Corner Shop owner Florrie Lindley and was engaged to young Christine Hardman until Christine broke it off . In 1964 , Frank won £5 , 000 on Premium Bonds , sold his shop and moved to Cheshire , where he died of natural causes some time prior to April 1975 . Biography . 1913 - 1961 : Early life and marriage to Ida . Born and bred in Weatherfield in 1913 , Frank Barlow married Ida Leathers on 1st May , 1938 and they had a son Ken before Frank was called out to war in 1939 . Due to his military service he wasn ' t there to help raise Ken and David ( born 1942 ) , but when the war ended in 1945 he resumed his previous job as a postman . The family lived in 3 Coronation Street , Weatherfield , until the 1960s . Frank was a man typical of the area at the time . Hard working , a caring father , he expected Ida to care for the family and cook meals , and he frequented the Rovers Return down the street . He was shocked when Ken , who he expected to follow in his footsteps or learn a trade , go on to university and mix with students of a higher class , and their influence rubbed off on Ken . Frank tried his best to reign in Ken ' s radical ideas and forbade him to go on a student march - Ken went anyway . In the sorting office Frank worked with Alf Roberts . In 1961 , Frank ' s supervisor Norman Chadwick left the GPO and Frank got his job . He thought Ida should give up work as he could now support them on his own , but in September Ida was hit by a bus and died . 1961 - 1963 : Florrie and Christine . Frank was devastated by Ida ' s death . He was almost left on his own as Ken was going to take a teaching job in Surrey but stayed in Weatherfield because of Frank . David had left to play football for the a London club after starting professionally with Weatherfield County FC . In October , Frank met Jim Foster , who drove the bus that hit Ida , who told him the accident was unavoidable . In 1962 , Frank got friendly with Florrie Lindley , owner of the Corner Shop . He liked talking to her but wasn ' t looking for someone to replace Ida at that point in time and was shocked when Florrie revealed she wanted more from the relationship . He didn ' t know how to handle the situation and avoided her for a while , later confessing that he only wanted companionship . Florrie was hurt but didn ' t let Frank know about it . Later in the year Frank started seeing Christine Hardman , a neighbour young enough to be his daughter . In fact , she had gone to school with Ken . He told Ken he was serious about the relationship . Ken was ashamed at Frank , and refused to speak to him . The neighbours found the issue interesting too , and Frank and Christine found themselves victims of a lot of gossip in the street . Frank asked Christine to marry him in 1963 , but she left him waiting for an answer for weeks and even met up with ex - boyfriend Joe Makinson in the intervening time . When he finished with her , she told Frank she would marry him , but she had only said yes because of the pressure she was under , and was in denial about how she really felt about Frank . She eventually told him and he was shocked but took the news well . To take his mind off Christine , Frank gave himself another new start and resigned from the GPO to open a DIY shop . The shop was a success but Frank had trouble with the shop flat tenant Ethel Tyson , who refused to pay a rent increase and tried to put customers off the shop . Ethel brought in her brother and his son to help her out with Frank , and they started a fire in the shop . They left when Frank threatened to bring in the police . 1964 - 1971 : Leaving Weatherfield . In 1964 , Frank won £5 , 000 on Premium Bonds , and sold his shop for £6 , 000 . He enjoyed throwing his weight around in the street with his new - found wealth and went on to buy a detached house in Cheshire and moved there immediately , without saying goodbye to Ken . In 1965 Frank became a grandad to Peter and Susan . Three years later he became a grandad again this time to other son David who had a son called Darren . Frank ' s returned twice to Weatherfield . His first visit was in 1967 when David summoned him to try and persuade Ken to pay a £5 fine for taking part in a student demo rather than go to prison for seven days . Ken refused to compromise and was subsequently imprisoned . Frank ' s last visit was for his daughter - in - law Valerie Barlow ' s funeral in February 1971 . He died at home from natural causes at some point prior to April 1975 . Quotes . " What ' s up ? " ( First line , to son Ken ) " Aye , it ’ s a true saying is that , Mrs Sharples . " ( Final line )