JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People across the country are mourning the death of Chris Sorensen, the 65-year-old former Jacksonville firefighter who co-founded national sandwich chain Firehouse Subs.
Sorensen served as an engineer and emergency medical technician with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department for 10 years before opening Firehouse Subs with his brother, Robin, in 1994. He died last week, just days before his 66th birthday.
Don Fox, a family friend and former CEO of Firehouse Subs who had known Sorensen for nearly 30 years, said the news came as a shock.
“It’s that type of news that comes out of left field. You’re just not at all prepared for it,” Fox said. “I’m still trying to wrestle with it.”
Fox described Sorensen as immeasurably kind and said the success of Firehouse Subs gave him a way to support first responders nationwide.
“In some respects, I don’t think he ever left the fire service,” Fox said. “He honored it through the restaurants, and then especially with the work of the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.”
Sorensen helped establish the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for lifesaving equipment, education, disaster relief, and other public safety needs.
Sorensen came from a family of firefighters and followed in the footsteps of his father, Capt. Rob Sorensen. Fox called him an artist whose creativity touched every part of his life, from his service with JFRD to music, design and the development of the Firehouse Subs brand.
The franchise has grown to more than 1,500 locations nationwide today. The brothers sold it to Restaurant Brands International in 2021 for $1 billion.
“You know you’ve known someone truly special when there are not even just hundreds, but thousands of people whose lives are better because Chris was somewhere in their orbit,” Fox said. “He is really going to be missed.”
Sorensen’s cause of death has not been made public. Online obituaries say he died peacefully at home with loved ones. Details about his celebration of life are available below.
A Celebration of Life will take place on Friday, Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. at The Church of Eleven22, located at 2101 Longleaf Pine Parkway in St. Johns County. Family and friends are warmly invited to join for a reception following the service at Marywood Retreat & Conference Center, located at 235 Marywood Drive in St. Johns.
The family is asking that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations in honor of Chris may be made to the Eric Sorensen Motor Speech Program at Brooks Rehabilitation or the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.
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