Among the "change agents" making a difference were lawyers, which inspired her choice of a career.
"The law seemed to me to be a worthy aspiration and I came to love it," said Durham, now a Utah Supreme Court justice and the state's longest-serving judge.
On Tuesday, Durham announced she plans to retire from the Supreme Court, effective Nov. 16, ending a 35-year tenure there.
Before taking a spot on the high court, she served as a district court judge for four years.
In 1978, Durham became the state's first female judge on a court of general jurisdiction (several women had already served on circuit and juvenile courts in Utah). She also was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court when she was appointed by Gov. Scott Matheson in 1982. In 2002, she became the first woman to head up the state's judiciary as chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court, a position she held for 10 years.
