Brett Woods

Engaging storyteller and novelist, former Green Beret and Secret Service agent, and unconventional state government administrator, Brett F. Woods died March 5, 2024, after a “prolonged danse macabre” (his words) with stage 4 colorectal cancer with liver metastasis.

Born March 27, 1948, in Houston, Texas, Brett attended the all-boys St. Thomas Catholic High School, frequently provoking the Catholic brothers who taught there, and partied through a year of college before enlisting in the U.S. Army. Brett served as a Green Beret medic and light weapons specialist in Vietnam, often providing medical care in villages and working with the Montagnard tribesmen. Brett’s military service awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnamese Service Medal, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm, Vietnamese Civil Action Medal, Vietnamese Campaign Medal, and the Department of Defense Cold War Service Certificate.

After his service, he became a Deputy U.S. Marshal and hunted fugitives at the same time he earned a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and political science from Sam Houston University, Huntsville, Texas. Brett then became a Special Agent with the Secret Service, where he investigated counterfeiters and other financial fraudsters, worked undercover along the Texas border, served on the protection details of various presidential candidates, U.S. officials, and foreign dignitaries, and protected Richard Nixon at his compound in San Clemente, California, many years after Nixon’s resignation. While stationed in California, Brett earned a master’s degree in public administration from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California.

Brett moved to Santa Fe in the late 1980s where he began a lengthy career in New Mexico state government and earned a doctorate degree in literature from the University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, England. A political independent, certified government financial manager, and certified fraud examiner, Brett held numerous state government positions, including inspector general and Child Support Enforcement director at the Human Services Department, commissioner for law enforcement and executive director of the Gaming Control Board, principal fiscal analyst for the Legislative Finance Committee, and deputy secretary of the Energy, Minerals and National Resources Department. He also completed various terms on the Water Quality Control Commission, Water Trust Board, and New Mexico Finance Authority, and served as president of the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Government Accountants. While working for the State of New Mexico, Brett completed the Advanced Management College executive program at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and the Senior Executive Fellows program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

An unapologetically blunt and vivid narrator and prolific writer, Brett published two spy thrillers, as well as multiple history books and dozens of academic essays, reviews, and opinion pieces that primarily examined the historical influences of war, espionage, military, and diplomatic affairs in Great Britain and the United States.

Late in his career—and largely due to his successful research and publishing history—Brett was selected to be a professor of history for the American Public University System, an appointment he continued after his retirement from state government. In 2017, he was selected as the Outstanding Faculty Member of Year, while his last book, James Monroe: Diplomatic Correspondence, Paris, 1794-1796, was published in 2021.

Endowed with an irreverent sense of humor, natural confidence, and a penchant to work behind the scenes, Brett was unabashedly straightforward but also very compassionate, with a particular softness for stray animals. He was a loyal friend and, throughout his life, easily rose to the defense of those who might be harmed due to bureaucratic, political, or social challenges.

He is survived by his wife Helen Gaussoin, children Brett Jr., Connor, and Maren, and grandchildren Brett (Trip), Gavin, and Ashton . His family will miss his stories of his teenage years eating onion sandwiches with the ex-inmates he worked with at his father’s auto dealership and of his time explaining policy to a distracted governor with a protein shake mustache. We will miss his rapid-fire, mumbly recitation of his family’s Irish history on St. Patrick’s Day and his tuneless version of Happy Birthday, also delivered rapid fire and partly mumbled, that always made him laugh at his own eccentricity.

After cremation, his remains will be interred with military honors at the Santa Fe National Cemetery,  Tuesday March 19th, 2024 11:00AM.

In lieu of flowers, Brett’s family asks that friends and family consider donations to animal and wildlife protection charities.