| abstract | - Stanley Josiah "Stan" Ogden was the husband of Hilda and owner of 13 Coronation Street from 1964 to 1984. Born in 1919 in Weatherfield, lorry driver Stan met cleaner Hilda Crabtree when she fell over him during a wartime blackout in 1943. They married in December of that year. A marriage and four children - Freda, Trevor, Tony and Sylvia - followed, but the family struggled on low income and Stan's heavy drinking and occasional violence led to Tony and Sylvia being taken into council care, and Freda leaving home and changing her name to Irma. Stan eventually tracked his daughter down and bought No.13 Coronation Street as a sign that for once he could be relied on to support the family. As he approached old age, Stan took low paid jobs and struggled to stay on top of his failing health, including an interminably bad back, but his greatest obstacles were his own laziness and fondness for alcohol, which was usually greater than his sense of responsibility to his family. While his children eventually left home, Hilda stood by Stan, as she was utterly devoted to him (despite constantly nagging him), as she knew he was his own greatest enemy and it was usually up to her to push him into work and put aside whatever money they could save to pay bills. In return, Stan was reliant on Hilda, especially in his later years, when his health put him out of work for good. Stan's second home was the Rovers Return Inn, where he could indulge in his greatest hobby - drinking. He died from a heart attack in hospital in 1984, aged sixty-five.
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