Dame Ruby, UWI pioneer, dies at age 101; Arrindell recalls her life with pride

Dame Dr. Ruby Beryl Viola Lake-Richards has died – less than a
month after celebrating her 101 st birthday on July 9.

Dame Ruby passed on Wednesday, August 2, in Canada.
The Antiguan-born intellectual was one of 33 students who made up
the first University of The West Indies class 75 years ago and was
the last surviving member of that historic group.

Born at Delaps Estate in 1922, she was the second child of Edwin
and Mary Lake and a pupil of the TOR Memorial High School.
After working as a family doctor for a number of years, she went on
to study psychiatry.

Family member Barbara Arrindell recalls that Dame Ruby was over
90 years old when she retired from private practice and from
teaching at McGill University.

Arrindell tells REAL News about the pride that she and her relatives
feel about Dame Ruby’s pioneering journey, as a woman, into higher
education; her contributions to the Caribbean and her adopted
home, Canada; and her admirable work ethic.

Dame Ruby was the widow of another prominent Antiguan and
Barbudan, the late Sir Novelle Richards.