Convicted of murdering an infant in her care after three bodies were exhumed from her garden, Dean was executed in Invercargill on August 12, 1895, and buried in an unmarked grave at the old Winton Cemetery.
After researching his family tree, Martin McCrae, of Stirling, Scotland, the great-nephew of the baby farmer, wrote to the Winton Community Board advising it he was commissioning a headstone to mark the site of "my great-grand aunt".
"I do not want any ceremony. I am not intending to come to Winton. It is simply my wish to see a memorial in place. When that happens, then my work is done and my duty to my family fulfilled."
Mr McCrae said he had spent the past 10 years piecing together his family tree, and had arranged a headstone for another relative who died in Kelowna, Canada, and was working on another one in Kingston, Jamaica.
On Monday, the Winton Community Board raised no objection to a headstone for Minnie Dean, nee McCulloch, and her husband, Charles Dean, at the unmarked grave located at block VIII plot 2 in the Winton cemetery.
Southland District Council area offices manager Chris Dolan said it was not the council's place to decide who could or could not have a headstone as "it is a family decision".
"The board was very receptive. They thought it was a great idea."
Board chairman John McHugh said while the board had rejected a signpost pointing to Dean's unmarked grave several years ago, it welcomed the latest decision.
"We turned down the request for a signpost because we didn't want to make the grave a focal point."
Mr McHugh, a publican, said visitors were always stopping to ask for directions to the grave where legend has it "the grass never grows".
"I don't know if a headstone will stop the grass from growing . . . but it will help people identify where the site is."
A resident of the town for all of his 59 years, Mr McHugh said he, like other Southlanders grew up aware of the controversy surrounding Minnie Dean.
"It can still be a bit of a conversation point down here."
Minnie Dean was the main topic of conversation at a nearby school staffroom yesterday, with staff "50-50 on her getting a headstone", Limehills School principal Malcolm Walker said.
"There were certainly some strong views expressed. It just shows that her name still has an impact in the community."
The case of Minnie Dean was of great interest to the pupils, and several had completed projects on her.
"Kids are just fascinated by her."
The headstone, which will be made by a Gore firm, is expected to be installed early next year.
It will be inscribed with Dean's maiden name McCulloch, a tradition in Scotland, and would read "To the memory of Charles Dean 1836-1908 and his wife Williamina McCulloch 1844-1895. Rest in Peace".
