Chow and her second husband, Ping Chow, moved to Seattle in 1943. Ruby was a popular waitress, particularly among white customers. It was the first Chinese restaurant outside of Seattle's Chinatown. Ping cooked and Ruby was the hostess. Chow let Lee stay in exchange for working in the restaurant, but she clashed with Lee over work, and later over his choice to teach martial arts to Black students. The Chows retired from their restaurant in 1979 when they leased it to a new business. She spoke to the
Chong Wa Benevolent Association, which supported Chinese immigrants in Seattle, about starting a public relations campaign for the local Chinese American community. Chong Wa was run by men but appointed Chow as their public relations chair. Chow pushed many local organizations to
integrate, including the Seafair Queen pageant,
Pacific Northwest Bell, and government and school boards. In another approach, Chow and her husband appeared on local TV shows to share Chinese cooking, including hosting their own show for two years on KSTW-TV. They also published recipes from their restaurant. In 1971,
King County Executive John Spellman appointed Chow to the Board of Equalization and Appeals. He later stated that he chose her because he and many others knew Chow, and she was a leader in the community. Two years later, Chow helped free 75 Chinese Americans arrested for gambling during a
Chinese New Year raid by the Seattle Police Department. Chow visited the mayor of Seattle and questioned how race was a factor in the arrests. She got all of the arrested children and elderly people released from jail and fundraised bail money for the rest, while ensuring people were only given tickets for the situation. On the council, Chow advocated to add bus stops and tennis courts to the
South End, which often was under-resourced compared to North Seattle. She also helped start bilingual programs in
Seattle Public Schools. She was an advocate for maintaining the name and identity of "Chinatown" for the
Chinatown-International District (CID) neighborhood. This led her to clash with activists like
Bob Santos, who viewed the "International District" identity as a collaboration across different Asian American communities. In 1979, Spellman proposed to remodel the
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Building, located near the CID, into a work-release facility for up to 300 people. Chow visited Senator
Warren Magnuson in Washington D.C. to lobby against the change on behalf of CID residents, who were upset that undesirably-viewed facilities were planned near their neighborhood. Her trip received major press attention and the proposal was discarded. Chow mentored local politicians like
Gary Locke and Ron Sims. == Honors ==