The Superior Express -

When people have lived in many areas of the United States and abroad, what brings them to a small town like Superior, Nebraska? That's what many think when they see someone new. In Barbara Huntington's case, it's family that brought her to Superior.

As a child, Barbara lived in Chicago, specifically Roger's Park. She's a Cubs fan. Her grandfather, dad and uncle were employed by the Chicago police force until their retirements. Her mother had her own detective agency. She was employed by various retail businesses as a clerk so she could find out where the losses were occurring and by whom or what the losses were caused by.

Huntington graduated from Chicago Lutheran Schools. Then she went on to learn about computers. Computers proved to be uninteresting to Barbara so she went to cosmetology school and became a teacher of cosmetology. After that, on to culinary school at the Francois Pope School of French cooking. She was contracted by the National Science Foundation for two summers and a winter for a total of 17 months at McMurdo station. She went as a chef, hairdresser and was a member of their medical disaster team. She was in Antarctica, near the South Pole from 1996-1998 with three contracts. Barbara said, "I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up." It would appear that she's done it all. She's versatile.

She was married to her first husband of 13 years until his untimely death at the age of 43. They had two children. Every time her husband was promoted, he was then transferred to a different location, so the family moved often. Later, she married again for six years and had two more children. They were contractors for the State Department and lived in Belgrade (which is Bosnia-Serbia now) for two years. While in Belgrade, her job was to be the editor of "This Week In Belgrade" (TWIB). This newspaper was for the non-communist countries like Canada, Greece.

While she was a single parent her jobs were also varied but Barbara tried to keep her schedule compatible with her children's school schedule.

Barbara lived in Chicago for 20 years, Florida, San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, Denver for more than 10 years and Atwood, Kan. At one point, she felt Denver would be her home. Then the tragedy of Columbine happened and changed everything for her and her children. The tragedy was a real horror and the teacher and administration became extremely paranoid with anything being turned into a weapon, even toothpicks. Her second grade son would use toothpicks to help clean his teeth. These same toothpicks were taken away from him.

Lance Labdol and Barbara Huntington.

In her travels during a camping trip, she drove on I-70. On the way back, she took the scenic route of Highway 36 across Kansas. While she was in Atwood, Barbara noticed the hospital and the Good Samaritan Center on the hillside. She decided to put in her application. Between Labor Day weekend and December 2004, she sold her house in Denver and moved to Attwood where she became a bath aide for two years. This job suited her children's schedules. She then went on to become a LPN and a traveling nurse going all over Kansas.

Barbara is now retired and likes to travel with her husband, Lance Lobdell. She also enjoys working with her coworker at Flatwater Bar and Grill. Living in Superior gives Barbara a central location to be with her family and grandchildren. Her daughter, Erica, is a current employee at Brodstone Healthcare as the staff development RN. What matters to her most is her family and being with her grandchildren.