Mr. Durden is a Southern California native and Vietnam Veteran. His early career after returning from Vietnam and being discharged from the U.S. Army was spent as a firefighter and rescue paramedic in Tacoma, Washington. After a career ending injury in the late 1970's he returned to college and earned a degree in electrical engineering. For the last 30 years he has been employed as an engineer in the telecommunications industry. Mr. Durden and his wife Jennifer have 4 children and 6 grandchildren and reside in Orange County, California.