The Minister officiated at Brian Tilsley's funeral in February 1989. After the burial at North Cross Cemetery, Gail Tilsley invited him back to 33 Hammond Road for tea but he had to turn down the offer as he had a lot on that afternoon. Phyllis Pearce thanked the minister for the nice service, however Ivy Brennan dismissed it as a farce, feeling that Gail had denied her husband a Catholic funeral and burial alongside his father Bert, and that the minister's words of praise for Brian were meaningless as he'd never met him.