Brother Dean Smith is a third generation Los Angeles native. He earned his B.A. (1968), and M.A. (1970), degrees in Political Science, from the University of California, Riverside. He enjoyed a 34-year career in public service, with Los Angeles County, where he worked in five different departments. After he retired in 2004, he did some consulting, and worked on the 2010 Census.

Brother Smith’s interest in the Civil War began on a trip to Virginia in 1999, where he visited the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville battlefields. Since then, he has visited battlefields at Antietam, Harper’s Ferry, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania Courthouse, as well as Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Port Hudson, in Louisiana.

In 2012, Brother Smith joined the SUVCW through the Gen. W. S. Rosecrans Camp No. 2 in Los Angeles. Prior to his election as Camp Commander for 2019, he served simultaneously as a member of the Camp Council, the ROTC/JROTC Recognition Coordinator, and Camp Guide. In 2021, Brother Smith became Founding Member 07, of Logan’s Brigade, the Men’s Associate to the National Women’s Relief Corps. At the 2022 Department Encampment, he was elected a member of the Department Council, and was reelected in 2023 and 2024. On December 23, 2022, Brother Smith was honored to be granted National Life Member No. 1000.

He is a long-time member of the American Battlefield Trust (formerly known as the Civil War Trust), and has been the President of the Los Angeles Civil War Round Table since 2012. In addition, in 2017 Brother Smith was elected to the Board of Directors of the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, where he served as its Secretary for three years.

Reenacting a corporal in the 32nd Iowa, Brother Smith enjoys teaching young students about the life of a Union soldier. His other Patriotic Instruction activities include: conducting annual Memorial Day celebrations at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Wilmington Historic Cemetery, and Mountain View Cemetery, as well as participating in the Auxiliary’s ceremonies at Sunnyside Cemetery; staffing SUVCW booths at living history events; and, giving presentations to five area Civil War Round Tables, SUVCW Camp 2, the Daughters of Union Veterans, the Sons of the American Revolution, as well as other groups, on the following topics:

• The Largest Unknown Battle of the Civil War—Pleasant Hill, LA, April 9, 1864
• Gen. W.S. Rosecrans—Forgotten Hero
• James Garfield—Unsung Hero and Martyred President
• Harrison Gray Otis—Unheralded Union Soldier—L.A. Tycoon
• Black Jack Logan—Politician and Major General
• The U.S. Sanitary Commission
• Financing the Civil War

Brother Smith traces his Union Army ancestry to George Washington Ballou, who enlisted in the 32nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry, as Washington Ballou, in August 1862. He attained the rank of corporal, but was killed in his first battle, at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, on April 9, 1864, thanks to the incompetence of Maj. Gen. Nathanial Banks, Union commander of the Red River Campaign. Brother Smith is also a distant relative of President James Garfield, whose mother was Eliza Ballou, and who attained the rank of Major General, after serving as Chief of Staff to Gen. W. S. Rosecrans.