John P. Durante

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, Sheriff John P. Durante died peacefully in his sleep.

His passing was witnessed by his wife of 15 years, Maria L. Durante, Esquire, who attempted to revive him and immediately summoned 911 which responded promptly with police and emergency medical assistance, who worked tirelessly to resuscitate him.

Sheriff Durante had been under doctor's care for the past five months for his recently diagnosed congestive heart failure.

He was to undergo additional medical testing next month in order for him to reevaluate his decision not to have an implantable defibrillator pacemaker device surgically installed.

On the night that he passed away, Sheriff Durante apparently suffered a deadly heart arrhythmia which arose suddenly as he was asleep.

He had felt good the night before and had convinced many friends that there was no reason to worry about his health.

Sheriff Durante was born on November 11, 1949 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Because of family hardships, John began working at age five, helping to make deliveries for his uncle's bakery, and he has worked ever since.

John often spoke of this with pride because he was able to help his brothers and sisters and look after his mother, to whom he was always devoted.

Sadly, he buried his mother, Catherine Durante, on November 11, 2009, John's 60th birthday. She was a talented seamstress, professional singer, and later worked at the Montgomery County Library.

Catherine Durante was a mother to six children, Michael, John, Patty, Daniel, Leo, and Jane. John shared his mother's love of music, and as a young man he sang in acapella and doo-wop groups on the street-corners of Conshohocken.

John Durante was proud of his father's contributions to society, as his father, Michael Vincent Durante, Sr., had served honorably as a Captain in the 101st Airborn Division in World War II and survived the ordeal of being a prisoner of war in a Nazi camp.

Michael Durante attended the University of Pennsylvania, spoke six languages, and was a master electrician. John was proud of his father's many talents, but devastated that his family suffered so many hardships because of the lingering effects of Michael Durante, Sr.'s war-time service.

John Durante was inspired by his father's accomplishments, but his defining role model and mentor was his uncle Pasquale DiGuiseppi, who stepped in to guide John at a young age.

Uncle Pat taught John the values of generosity and compassion for others, values which defined John's entire life.

John's life was blessed by many other loving and kind mentors , including John's dear friend Eddie Lasorda who John often referred to as his "adopted father." John also was befriended by Eddie's brother Tommy Lasorda, and treasured his friendship, sense of humor, and all the important charity work that they did together.

Sheriff Durante loved the fire service, the ambulance service, and the law enforcement community. He began his public service as a junior firefighter, served in the Harmonville Fire Department and Conshohocken No. 2 Fire Company, and became a life member in the Spring Mill Fire Company.

John Durante served as a Senior Instructor in the Montgomery County Fire Company and as a local instructor for the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy.

As a young man, John Durante volunteered for the Plymouth Community Ambulance Association, and he later returned to serve countless hours as an unpaid volunteer as the President and C.E.O. of Plymouth Ambulance in order to save it from financial demise caused by embezzlers who were subsequently convicted and sentenced for their crimes.

John ensured that highly trusted, professional people were placed in key positions at Plymouth Ambulance, such as Christina Gambone, who has been indispensable to restoring the community's faith in the integrity of Plymouth Ambulance.

John's wife, former Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Maria L. Durante, wants to keep the life they shared together alive by continuing John's crucial work at Plymouth Community Ambulance Association.

She has offered to serve on its volunteer board of directors and will work tirelessly to raise funds for the John P. Durante Memorial Building Fund. The first project this fund will be used for is to erect a Plymouth Ambulance building in Norristown so that ambulances can arrive even more quickly at emergency scenes in that area so that more lives can be saved.

Sheriff Durante began his law enforcement career as a Deputy Sheriff in Montgomery County in 1971. John Durante then joined the Montgomery County Detectives as a County Investigator in 1974, and he began first as an undercover narcotics and vice investigator and then as a homicide investigator.

John's forensic career began when he met Dr. Halbert Fillinger, who recognized John's talents and integrity and took John under his wing, training John to be a forensic expert.

Dr. Fillinger paid for John to attend a wide array of forensic science courses in order to shape John into the nationally known forensic expert that John became. John used that expertise to help give peace, closure, and justice to the victims of crime, their families and loved ones.

John was always motivated by the compassion he felt for those people that he helped thru his forensic work. Sheriff Durante worked tirelessly to help other law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal level, and he even traveled to international locations to help lend his forensic expertise on a volunteer, unpaid basis.

Sheriff Durante was deeply honored to be inducted into the International Police Hall of Fame and to receive numerous awards from the Vidocq Society, an international association of forensic experts. John also was proud of having consulted for Harrison Ford on "Presumed Innocent" and "Witness" and of having worked with Bill Curtis on crime documentaries.

John Durante founded the Forensic Science Unit of the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office in 1986, and commanded that unit until 1999, when he won election to the position of Sheriff of Montgomery County.

Even though the position of County Sheriff is considered "part-time" under the salary structure of county government, John treated this as a full-time position and came to work every day to ensure that the Department was always at its best.

John was very proud of the professionalism of the men and women who served in his Department, and felt that many were like family to him.

Sheriff Durante especially appreciated the dedication and professionalism of his trusted lifetime friend, Chief Deputy Alfred J. Ricci. John repeatedly expressed that he wanted Chief Deputy Ricci to be appointed as Acting Sheriff to serve out John's unexpired term if anything were to ever happen to him.

John's last act as Sheriff was to get the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department certified as an accredited law enforcement agency, and an official announcement and certification of that accomplishment is scheduled for March of this year.

Sheriff Durante shared his extensive knowledge by instructing law enforcement agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of the Interior, and U.S. Naval Investigative Services, and teaching at Northwestern University, Temple University Department of Criminal Justice, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy Medicine, and countless local, county, state, and federal agencies.

John P. Durante held a Ph.D. Degree in Forensic Science from Northwestern University. John traveled numerous times to Northwestern University in order complete his Ph.D. dissertation while he worked full-time as a law enforcement official.

In his private life, Sheriff Durante enjoyed cooking, wine making, woodworking, fishing, outdoor sporting activities, and training his rescue dog, a playful and intelligent Bouvier des Flandres named Warren.

John shared many happy times with his friends from Montella, Italy, and enjoyed being with his good friends at the Conshohocken Italian Bakery and at the Holy Savior Club.

Sheriff Durante also enjoyed the many good people that he met and became friends with thru Saints Cosmas & Damian Church, John's charitable fund-raising activities, and his participation in politics.

John is survived by his wife of 15 years, Maria L. Durante (43), his daughters Christina Visco (38) (married to Bill Visco) and Deanna Durante (34) (married to Tim Swan), and his grandchildren Tanner, Molly, and Darby Visco, his siblings Michael V. Durante, Jr. of Lemont, CO, Patty, Daniel, Leo, Jane Durante all of Conshohocken, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

John was very proud of the accomplishments of both of his daughters, and he delighted in his grandchildren. Although John first marriage had ended in divorce, he felt a warm friendship for Jill (Jackson) Bukata and still considered her and her relatives to be part of his family.

John was deeply saddened at the loss of Jill's only brother, Bob Jackson, who he admired, respected, and loved.

In lieu of flowers, the Durante family requests that donations be made to: John P. Durante Memorial Building Fund, c/o Christina Gambone, Plymouth Community Ambulance Association, 902 Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

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