Dr. Dewey Duane Smith, DDS

Dewey Duane Smith was born in Gratiot County, Michigan in 1878. He was educated at Albion College, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University’s College of Dentistry. He is pictured above with his wife Alma Smith and daughters Elizabeth and Marjorie. Sadly, Alma died shortly after the birth of her third child, Dewey Duane Smith, Jr.,  in 1925. He later married Etta Detleftsen.

In 1904 Dr. D.D. Smith moved to Sandusky, where he opened a dental office in the Kingsbury Block.

Dr. Smith took advantage of the fact that his initials were the same as the acronym for Doctor of Dental Surgery, as seen in the advertisement below from the August 31, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal.

Dr. Smith specialized in orthodontia. In the 1920s, he moved his dental practice to 130 East Market Street. 

Besides having a very busy dental practice in Sandusky for over fifty years, Dr. D. D. Smith, Sr. was also very involved in the community. He was a member of Grace Episcopal Church and the Masons. He served on the Council of the Boy Scouts of America for the local district, and he was instrumental in organizing Sandusky’s “Flicker Club,” a group of individuals interested in the promotion of amateur home movies.  Dr. Smith once served as secretary of the Northern Ohio Dental Association and was a member of the Erie County Medical Advisory Board. For eight years he served on the Ad Interim Committee, House of Delegates of the Ohio State Dental Society. 

Dr. D.D. Smith, Sr. died on May 1, 1959. He was survived by his wife Etta; daughter, Mrs. Walter Kerber; and son Dr. Dewey Duane Smith, Jr, who was also a dentist. Dr. Smith’s daughter Marjorie Kahn had died in 1956. Dr. Smith, Sr. was buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.