As a boy in grade school, he met and became lifelong friends with future LDS Church president Gordon B.

Durham's second mission president, Joseph F. Merrill, encouraged him to pursue graduate education when he returned to the United States.

He had previously served in the church as a stake president, as a member of the Sunday School general board, and as a regional representative.

[1] In October 1981, Durham became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and remained in that position until his death.

Durham was a frequent contributor to the magazine Improvement Era and was the author or editor of a number of books, including compilations of the religious teachings of LDS church presidents John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Heber J.

His personal and professional papers were donated to the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library.