When Paul Sterling heard of plans to upgrade hotel and restaurant facilities on the Oklahoma State University campus, he felt it would present an opportunity for him and his family to give something unique and rare to the university – Kona Coffee.

Renovations on the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration Atherton Hotel had begun and plans for the Ranchers Club were in progress when a group of OSU officials traveled to Hawaii to visit with the Sterlings.

OSU graduates Sterling, who holds 3 degrees from OSU including a 1966 PhD in entomology, and his wife Mary Belle, ’64 business, began farming Kona Coffee in 1999 with one small farm.  One farm grew to 10 and now total 100 acres of coffee and macadamia trees on volcanic hillsides on the west coast of the island of Hawaii.  The farms produce 200,000 pounds of Kona coffee beans each year.

Dr. Paulo’s Kona coffee is distinctive and unique. It is a type of arabica bean known as Kona Typica.  Each one of the trees on the various farms is grown from seeds of the most production trees from one farm.  The trees become ‘ohana or – one family

“OSU Regent Dr. Claude Evans, who was part of the group, was intrigued with the coffee plantation and excited about the prospects for the hospitality school. He suggested we consider donating coffee as a way to support OSU,” Sterling said. “There aren’t many OSU coffee farmers.”

Sterling began shipping coffee to the Ranchers Club in the fall of 2005 and has now contributed over 1,500 pounds of Dr. Paulo’s Kona Coffee beans to the restaurant.  Green coffee beans are shipped to Sterling’s daughter Catherine Mettenbrink in Oklahoma City, who roasts the beans to Ranchers Club specifications and delivers them to Stillwater.

“We are grateful to Dr. Paulo for this very generous gift and are pleased to be able to offer this highly prized coffee to our guests in the Ranchers Club,” said Richard Ghiselli, director of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration.  “Dr. Paulo’s Kona Coffee provides an opportunity for our students to realize the hospitality industry extends beyond the walls of hotels and restaurants.”

Honoring the spirit of ‘ohana or family, Sterling practices an ancient tradition of affection and warmth in taking care of the land and the people who live on it. 

“Dr. Paulo’s Coffee represents my ties to the earth and now I can share that love with my other love - OSU,” Sterling said.  “The ‘ohana means love and loyalty.  Giving to OSU is a way for me to express ‘ohana to my alma mater.”