Phyllis Pearce Phyllis Pearce ( née Grimes ) was the purple - haired , gravel - voiced pensioner who worked at Jim ' s Cafe from 1984 to 1989 . Phyllis arrived in Coronation Street in 1982 after tracking down her errant son - in - law ' s father - Chalkie Whitely , who was caring for Phyllis ' s grandson ( and only living relative ) Craig . When Chalkie and Craig emigrated to Australia , despondent Phyllis remained a familiar face in the area through her job at the cafe . One bonus of staying local for Phyllis was that she could be close to fellow pensioner Percy Sugden . Percy was the object of Phyllis ' s affections and she doggedly pursued him for many years , despite an obvious lack of interest on Percy ' s side . Young at heart , Phyllis typically presented an upbeat attitude , enjoying the pleasures she had left in life rather than dwell on the negatives . She enjoyed her work and was disappointed to be forcibly retired from the cafe in 1989 , although she did put in the occasional shift as a favour to owners Alma Sedgewick and Gail Tilsley afterwards . In 1991 , Phyllis got a new job as Des Barnes ' s housekeeper , which she greatly enjoyed and while she usually stayed out of Des ' s private life , which involved a string of love affairs , she did sometimes give him a talking - to when she thought he needed it . Phyllis moved into a retirement complex at Mayfield Court in 1996 . By 1998 Phyllis was still alive enjoying her retirement at Mayfield with Percy Sugden and Maud Grimes . Biography . Craig and Chalkie . In September 1982 Phyllis tracked down her grandson , Craig Whitely , to Coronation Street . As he was her only surviving family - ( her daughter Margaret having died of cancer in 1977 ) - she wanted him to come and live with her . However , Craig refused by choosing instead to continue living with his paternal grandfather Chalkie Whitely at No . 9 . Phyllis stayed in Weatherfield to be near Craig but was stunned when Bob Whitely , Craig ' s father returned in November to announce that he had left the Navy and was emigrating to Australia , taking Craig with him . Following Craig ' s departure in December , Phyllis turned her attentions towards Chalkie - looking after him when he came down with flu . When Phyllis found out at the beginning of the year that her house on Omdurman Street was to be demolished , she hoped to move in with Chalkie but he turned her down as he hoped to sell the house as Bob needed the money . Fearing that if he did sell up he would move to Australia and would never see Craig again , Phyllis did all that she could to prevent it from happening . Phyllis ' plans were thwarted when Chalkie won £3 , 543 . 75 at the bookies and he finally sold No . 9 before leaving for Australia at the beginning of August 1983 . Percy Sugden . In August 1984 , Phyllis was employed by Gail Tilsley as a washer - upper at Jim ' s Cafe . Phyllis eventually got over Chalkie ' s departure and set her sights on Percy Sugden , the Community Centre ' s caretaker . Phyllis doggedly pursued Percy over the following years , chasing him at the Valentine ' s ball and looking after him while he was ill . In September 1985 , Phyllis was wooed by Sam Tindall , Percy ' s bowls rival , but she was not interested until she realised Percy was in the tournament too . She then offered herself up as a prize to the winner of the tournament . However , when Percy won he refused to take her on the Bowls trip to Southport with him - claiming there were no tickets left . Phyllis managed to obtain a ticket and join Percy , Sam and the bowls team on their trip and she and Percy ended up missing the coach back . When Emily Bishop invited Phyllis for Christmas dinner she accepted but asked that Emily keep it secret from Percy . Much to Emily ' s surprise , Phyllis and Percy appeared to get on well come Christmas Day . In 1993 , she won a poetry competition for a poem about her love for Percy , and in January 1996 , her hopes rocketed as Maud Grimes read Phyllis ' tea leaves and told her the man of her dreams was coming into her life . Sadly , Maud had mixed up the cups ! Des Barnes . There was one other man in Phyllis ' life - Des Barnes . Des took pity on Phyllis when she lost her cafe job and let her become housekeeper at 6 Coronation Street . Although Phyllis had seen plenty of Des ' philanderings , she had always been discreet , though at times she had to turn a blind eye or give Des a good talking - to . Quotes . " Found you ' ave I ? In your rat ' ole " ( First line to Chalkie Whitely ) " There ' s three wheelie bins under my window , and I ' ve never turned my gas low " ( Final line , to Maud Grimes )