Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Page 3
Services Slated Monday for Retired Court Commissioner David Durst
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Services are scheduled in Santa Monica Monday for retired court commissioner David Durst.
Durst died Sunday, one week after suffering a massive heart attack at his home, longtime friend and retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rex Minter told the MetNews. Durst was 73.
Durst was a lifelong resident of Santa Monica, where he practiced law by himself for 30 years before Santa Monica Municipal Court judges appointed him a commissioner in 1985. He retired in 1998.
Durst was born in Santa Monica and attended public schools there. After graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1945, he went on to Santa Monica Junior College and USC, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1951— majoring in literature—and his law degree in 1954.
He had a general civil and criminal practice, including trial and appellate work. He served as an interim replacement for several months in 1972 when a commissioner became ill, and was a judge pro tem in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the Santa Monica and Culver municipal courts, and the Malibu Justice Court for a number of years before taking up full-time bench duties.
He also served as a director of the California Court Commissioners Association, chairman of the State Bar Alcohol Abuse Committee, and president of the Santa Monica Bar Association. His civic activities included membership on the city airport and recreation and parks commissions and the presidencies of the Santa Monica Legal Aid Society and Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library.
He is survived by his wife, Dora Lee Call Durst, and two adult children, Caroline and Bill Durst.
Monday’s services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 1220 Second Street, Santa Monica, where Durst served as a trustee, beginning at 3 p.m.
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company