Ruby Dey was born in Mymensingh, now part of Bangladesh. After the partition, she and her family fled to Kolkata (Calcutta) where Ruby attended school and college. In February 1960, Ruby married Utpal Dey, an army doctor, and had two children. After leaving the army in 1966, Utpal decided to emigrate to the UK where he worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist. In November 1968, Ruby came to the UK with her two children to join her husband. Over the next 50 years, Ruby moved from Leicester to Lincoln to Southport, finally settling in Blackburn, where she resides today.