Barbara is what many would consider to be the lead of the housewives in her neighborhood. Whether it's with organizing events or bringing the best casserole to the party, she has it covered. It is a position she highly values, as she does not have much else going for her in her life.

On the surface, Barbara is the usual Southern Belle; quite cheerful, polite, friendly, and full of Southern hospitality. Underneath all of it, however, is a woman who is petty, passive-aggressive, and snooty. It does not take much for these traits to come out, especially if she must establish her place on the social ladder. Catty and vile as she can be at times, she can also be a complete doormat. This is especially true when it comes to her interactions with men.

However, as a mother she is completely different. She is deeply compassionate for her children's well-being, and will fight tooth and nail to make sure they get what they need. Her pride tends to peek out when it comes to talking about her children with other women. She’s the type of mother that insists her children are little angels and can do no wrong. While this is normally a detriment, her attitude can come in handy when handling unwarranted backlash she often receives about loving her physically disabled child, Elisha, like the rest of her children.

She grew up in a large, troubled family in a small, rural, primarily German Catholic town near Fredericksburg, Texas. Both of her parents were incredibly dysfunctional, and when her father was not distant, he would often sexually abuse her as a child. Her mother did not do much to stop this, as she was unaware of this abuse, and later on too calloused and wrapped up in her own problems to care.

In her small high school, Barbara was the kind of girl who would "park in cars" with boys at night. She was good at keeping it discreet, as she was afraid her father would find out.

However, word travels fast in a small town, and she ended up becoming greatly disliked for her actions, making her a social outcast. She was bullied by the other girls in her school for what she did. Once her father found out about it, she was put on lockdown and not allowed to do anything outside of school.

Regardless, sleeping with people so freely was how she met her husband, Howard, and they ended up being high school sweethearts. Once she finished high school, they eloped in the middle of the night with nothing but Howard's car, and moved to the Bay Area in California.

During WWII, she was busy taking care of her and Howard's first child, Daniel. For a while they lived out of their car and various hotels while Howard scraped up money for a house.

Thanks to Howard's benefits from his clerical job in the military, they were able to buy a house and move into their current neighborhood.