A resident of Chula Vista since 1961 he attended Palomar, Greg Rodgers and Loma Verde Elementary Schools, Castle Park Jr. and Senior High Schools and the University of San Diego before earning a Doctorate in Oriental Medicine from the California Acupuncture College. Dr. Dinsmore is also a Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional.
Active in the community Dr. Dinsmore coached South Bay Little League Baseball for many years and served yearly in the Masonic Citizenship Awards with the South Bay Elementary School District through Chula Vista Masonic Lodge where he served as Master in 2003 and as a Trustee of that Lodge's scholarship fund which provides grants to local high school students entering California State University San Diego. He received the Hiram Award in 2010. He is a Past President of the Southern California Past Master's Association and was awarded the Rank and Decoration of KCCH by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry where he served as Wise Master of the Chapter of Rose Croix and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Scottish Rite Childhood Language Clinic in the Valley of San Diego.
Before retiring his martial arts business in 2019 Dr. Dinsmore taught Kung Fu San Soo in Chula Vista for 40 years to men, women and children as well as local police, U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Navy SEAL Teams and USMC commandos. With two generations of Kung Fu Masters under him, Dr. Dinsmore is one of the Grandfathers of the art he taught at Kung Fu San Soo Chula Vista with associated schools in Arizona, Connecticut, Missouri, Oklahoma, Washington and Costa Rica.
Dr. Dinsmore has authored several books on martial arts history and philosophy, comparative religion and acupuncture medicine and was a frequent guest lecturer on comparative religion at the University of Phoenix, a course content contributor to Health Sciences I at Southwestern College, a guest presenter on Eastern Religion and Psychoneuroimmunology at San Diego State University and an Independent Scholar of the American Academy of Religion.
A Christian Taoist priest, Richard serves as Abbot of the San Qing Temple Keepers of The Way Church and Seminary in San Diego, is a Certified Chaplain and a member of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy and the Society For The Study of Chinese Religions.