JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Chris Sorensen helped build Firehouse Subs into a national brand, but a longtime friend says the Jacksonville native never lost the easygoing nature and commitment to service that defined him.
Sorensen, a former firefighter who co-founded the sandwich chain with his brother, Robin, died Oct. 11 at 65. His family said he died peacefully at home, surrounded by family.
Randy Wyse, who worked with Sorensen at a Jacksonville fire station, remembers the early days of the business. Sorensen brought lunch meat to the station for firefighters to try, asking what they thought.
The brothers opened the first Firehouse Subs in Jacksonville in 1994. The business grew to more than 1,200 restaurants and more than $1 billion in annual system sales before they sold it in 2021.
“Chris was a real, a lot of times people use the word laid-back, but he was a laid-back guy,” Wyse said. “I loved his music. I remember him playing some music at the fire station sometimes. So just a super good guy.”
Sorensen’s path to the restaurant business included work as a professional musician and a career in firefighting. He served with several departments, including Jacksonville Fire and Rescue, where he worked for more than 10 years as an engineer and emergency medical technician.
Wyse said Sorensen and his brother also stepped up after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, delivering food and supplies. That spirit of helping first responders continued through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, which Sorensen co-founded that year.
The foundation has awarded more than $118 million in grants for lifesaving equipment to public safety departments in the United States and Canada.
“I just think it’s fantastic that a family like that would take on something like that, step out, start a business on their own, and have it be as successful as it is,” Wyse said. “I’m very proud to have known Chris and obviously the family.”
A celebration of life is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at The Church of Eleven22 on Longleaf Pine Parkway in St. Johns County. The family has requested donations to the Eric Sorensen Motor Speech Program at Brooks Rehabilitation or the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation in lieu of flowers.
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