Russia Connection: Cheese expert comes forward

In the spring of 1992, Dema Lunsford of Olney came to the Kiwanis Club meeting in Wichita Falls with one goal in mind: to find an expert in cheese making to bring along on a trip to Detchino, Olney’s new sister city in Russia. In the audience was J. Bryan “Doc” Stine, who had retired in 1976 after 42 years with Kraft Foods as their international cheese expert. Mr. Stine mentioned his cheese expertise to Mrs. Lunsford, then went home to his farm near Burkburnett with his wife, Mattie Lynn, to contemplate whether he should join the Olney group.

Mrs. Lunsford and her husband, Richard, had organized a delegation from Olney to visit Detchino to distribute New Testaments and medical supplies for the town 45 miles or so outside Moscow. Detchino’s college of agriculture had recently purchased cheese-making equipment and had asked the Olney group for help in operating it.

Doc Stine attended Texas Tech University and went to work for Kraft Foods in Chicago. Soon, he was named chief chemist in the cheddar cheese division. Kraft sent him all over Europe and the United States to teach his methods to cheese makers. He was the perfect candidate to help the citizens of Detchino.

Mr. and Mrs. Lunsford visited Doc Stine and his wife after the Kiwanis meeting and succeeded in convincing him to join their delegation.

“This is such a good cause,” he later said. “It had to be the Good Lord at work to present a challenge I can handle.”

Next week:Delegation arrives in Moscow