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, at 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. He is a long-time member of 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 serves as its Secretary.

Reenacting a corporal in the Iowa 32nd, Brother Smith enjoys teaching young students about the life of a Union soldier. His other Patriotic Instruction activities include: organizing a Memorial Day celebration, in 2014, at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, where several hundred Union veterans are buried; 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, LA, 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.