By Noah Zuhdi, Owner – Oklahoma Foundation Solutions, LLC
People who know me know that I talk about my grandfather often.
His name was Dr. Nazih Zuhdi, and he was a world-renowned heart surgeon, a humanitarian, and the most influential person in my life. His soul left this earth nearly a decade ago, but somehow, I’m still meeting people every single week who have a “Granddad story.”
Some tell me he saved their loved one’s life. Others remember a moment when he helped them through a difficult time. Many simply remember the way he made them feel: seen, valued, and never rushed. His impact on this world today is just as strong as when he was alive.
I want to share a little about him in this post, because everything I do at Oklahoma Foundation Solutions — every standard we hold, every decision we make about how we treat homeowners — traces back to him.
A Legacy That Can’t Be Matched
My grandfather’s accomplishments in the medical community changed the world. He performed Oklahoma’s first successful heart transplant and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1994 (Nazih Zuhdi, Class of 1994 | Oklahoma Hall of Fame).
Through his successful surgeries and groundbreaking inventions, he is responsible for saving millions of lives.
Still, as remarkable as his medical accomplishments were, his humanitarian work was even more impressive. He believed that loving your fellow man and performing good deeds mattered more than any differences in background, belief, or status. He brought people together in a truly unique way. He treated every human being he encountered with the same dignity, whether they were a head of state or a stranger on the street.
There are no words that can properly convey his love for people. I’m not sure I could do it justice in a hundred blog posts, much less one.
What He Taught Me
Ever since I can remember, the only person I have wanted to be like is Granddad.
He had a way of making the people around him feel like they were unstoppable. The greatest compliments I have ever received in my life were the times he told me I was most like him.
After I graduated from law school and moved back to Oklahoma City, Granddad and I met for lunch just about every Tuesday.
We would share laughter and stories, catch up on the previous week, and talk about life. He had a way of teaching that wasn’t really teaching. He just lived his philosophy out loud, and you absorbed it by being near him. He talked about the importance of treating people well. He talked about the value of doing good deeds without expecting recognition. And he talked about building a life where your actions matched your words.
Admittedly, I was not equipped at the time to fully receive the wisdom he gave me. I was younger. I was still figuring out who I was. I let a lot of those lessons pass through me without taking root.
But as I’ve grown over the years, his teachings have served as signposts along my journey, always revealing themselves at the exact right moment. Whenever I make a mistake or am conflicted about an action I must take, the lessons from all those lunches help me find my way back to the right path.
I would be lost without the time he poured into me.
Two Honors I Will Never Forget
There are two accomplishments in my life that mean more to me than almost any others. Both of them are tied to Granddad.
The first is being featured in Bob Burke’s book Uniquely Oklahoma, the same book that includes Granddad. He was included for his lifetime of medical and humanitarian achievements. I was included for winning the WBU World Lightweight Boxing Title. The fact that our names appear in the same volume, telling the story of Oklahomans who made their mark on the world, is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life.
The second is having an exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center dedicated to my world championship. Granddad also has an exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center. It’s a beautiful tribute to his pioneering work in heart surgery and his humanitarian legacy. To share that space with him, even in a small way, is a humbling reminder of the standard I’m always trying to meet and uphold.
I don’t share these accomplishments and historical notes to brag. I share them because everything that has my name on it is verifiable. My background, my family, my career, my accomplishments, and the work I do at OFS are all part of the public record. That matters. In a world full of noise, you deserve to know exactly who you’re trusting with your home. With OFS, you know exactly who we are.
How This Shapes Oklahoma Foundation Solutions
Oklahoma Foundation Solutions is not just a foundation repair company. It is, in many ways, the continuation of a legacy. It’s my attempt to honor the man who shaped me by building something that operates the way he lived.
When I started OFS, I made a promise to myself: this company would carry his influence. Not in name, but in how every single decision is made.
That’s why we built the Free Foundation Health Check instead of running the typical high-pressure “free evaluation.” We educate homeowners, respect their ability to make their own decisions, and trust that doing right by people will speak for itself. Our evaluations follow the same structure.
That’s why we refuse to speak poorly of our competitors, even if they speak poorly of us. What you say about other people says far more about you than it does about them. So when we’re asked about other companies, we focus on our own work and let homeowners draw their own conclusions.
That’s why we prioritize warranty work and follow-through long after a job is complete. If you build something on integrity, it continues to bear fruit long after you’re gone. So we treat every job like it has our name on it forever, because it does.
That’s why we train our crews not just on technique, but on how to treat the homeowner. We treat every home and customer with the exact same high level of respect and attention. Every OFS team member matters. Every Oklahoma homeowner matters.
Every decision I make at OFS is filtered through one question: Would Granddad be proud of how we handled this?
If the answer is no, we change course. Even if it costs us money. Even if it costs us a job. Because the moment we stop running this company by his standards, we’ve lost the only thing that actually matters.
A Perfect Purpose
Granddad had an energy and vibrancy about him that lit up every room he walked into. His charm, charisma, and humor made it impossible to be in a bad mood around him. He not only saved millions of lives — he brought people together in a way I’ve never seen anyone else do, before or since.
He wasn’t a perfect man. None of us are.
But he lived his life with a perfect purpose.
That purpose is what drives every decision I make at OFS. That’s the standard I’m trying to live up to. Not perfectly, but purposefully. Every day. One homeowner at a time.
