It’s been two decades — almost to the moment — that Judi Baglier flipped on the television and saw her only son being carried from a culvert in a body bag.

Her world didn’t just stop. It came to a screeching, traumatic halt.

“By the grace of God I pulled myself up and said, ‘Don’t do this,’” said Baglier, 73, of the darkness that filled her life in the months that followed.

But the Renfrew resident is quick to tell you she’s a survivor, not a victim. Baglier regained her strength through counseling, the passage of time and a dedication to help others.

As a volunteer, she’s counseled a variety of people ranging from other families who lost a child to inmates who committed violent crimes. She trained her pet Pomeranian, Bandit, to sooth traumatized children, and she’s served green beans and mashed potatoes to the homeless.

Baglier’s efforts to heal the world that once hurt her so badly are now so voluminous that she’s being recognized as one of six “Steel Magnolia” award winners this year.

The award honors women who have overcome obstacles to positively impact the community. It is administered by the Middletown Community Foundation and funded by the AK Steel Foundation.

Barbara Palladino of Butler, who nominated Baglier, knows her not only as a friend but through a program in the state prison.

Palladino worked as a forensic pathologist in the state penitentiary while Baglier held group sessions for men who had committed violent crimes.

“She was amazing ... working with men, some of whom had committed horrific acts. A lot of the men went to her group because it was so valuable,” Palladino said. “I really admire her. But it’s not just for this (program). It is that and a million other things she’s done.”

Baglier’s charity efforts didn’t begin with the death of her son Johnny. But certainly everything she did after that tragic experience was impacted by it.

Johnny Baglier, had been an 18-year-old All-American kid with an easy smile, a college-bound future and loads of friends as captain of Shady Side Academy’s cross country team.

He was on a mission to buy his girlfriend a birthday gift at the mall on Nov. 9, 1996, when he disappeared.

In the days to come, the community pitched in to the effort to find Johnny and pray for his safe return.

But investigators believe that even before his parents started searching local roads for his vehicle, Johnny was most likely already dead.

His credit cards, vehicle and killer were found in that order, all weeks before his body was found Dec. 30.

Investigators later determined that Richard Gamble, a 23-year-old car thief and stranger to Johnny, kidnapped the younger man and killed him.

Gamble still was wearing Johnny’s sweater and driving Johnny’s GMC Jimmy when police confronted him in Arizona. Gamble scuffled with police officers before shooting himself twice in the chin with his 9 mm handgun.

About a month after Gamble’s death, a bridge inspection crew found Johnny’s body in a concrete culvert under a country road in Armstrong County. Johnny had been shot three times through Gamble’s dirty blue Windbreaker.

Judi Baglier, while witnessing the recovery of her son’s body on the television news, screamed so long and hard that she permanently damaged her vocal chords. She dipped into a deep depression, and very well could have followed it down an even darker road.

And then she decided that just isn’t what her Johnny would want for her.

“Judi is truly a remarkable woman whose life has been profoundly impacted by a tragedy of epic proportions from which she emerged with an overpowering desire to help others cope with traumatic events in their own lives,” Palladino wrote in her letter nominating Baglier for the Steel Magnolia award.

“Judi’s genuineness, authenticity, and compassionate nature gave her the inner strength to transcend the depths of her grief, and she embarked on an amazingly beautiful and heart-wrenching journey in her quest to comfort others during the darkest hours of their lives. Judi epitomizes the true meaning of an ‘Unsung Hero.’”

After earning a certification in grief counseling from Colorado State University, she met with crime victims in the courtroom and she met with inmates in the prison through the state penitentiary in Mercer.

While in Colorado studying for her certification, she traveled to Columbine High School and spoke to a large group of students about the catastrophic shooting there.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Baglier provided support and guidance to the residents of Somerset County, where United Flight 93 crashed in a field.

She’s volunteered her services as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Allegheny County, which requires extensive training and dedication. And she co-facilitated a grief group for survivors of suicide.

Her love of animals is well known. She has volunteered for the Butler County Humane Society for many years and purchased Bandit, a certified service dog that specializes in issues related to trauma and grief.

With Bandit, Baglier was instrumental in starting a Pet Therapy Program at Children and Youth Services in Butler County. She also is an active participant in the Community Re-Entry Program at the Butler County Prison, which provides vital resources for inmates who are transitioning into the community.

As part of the Steel Magnolia Award, recipients are awarded $2,000 payable to the eligible charity of the recipient’s choice.

Baglier chose Katie’s Kitchen, a community meal program operated at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 201 W. Jefferson St., and Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive.

The kitchen receives donations like a food bank, but instead of handing out precooked food or ingredients, it prepares and serves the food as well. October to October, they served 2,700 meals.

“I fell in love with this program,” said Baglier, who has been prepping food or readying items for years.

Bandit, who apparently loves green beans slipped to him under the table, is the official greeter, Baglier said. “When I’m not here, people ask, ‘Where’s Bandit?’”

Loretta Bachman, who manages the program, said Baglier has become an important role model not only to the people who visit Katie’s Kitchen, but also to herself.

“My mom died years ago, and now Judi is like a mother to me,” Bachman said.