By Craig Smith

Fred and Marilly Morton are wonderful business people with a great story to tell. It all started back in 1974. Fred, originally from Hartford, Connecticut, ventured out to San Francisco, and then on up to Oregon. Marilly, a native Portlander, was involved in the Christian communal house, Prince of Peace, ran by the late Willard Cromwell, a great pastor and friend to many. They met at the communal house, but Fred was not a Christian. He stayed three days and then decided to drive all the way back home to Connecticut. During the drive, the Holy Spirit was moving on him. In Pendleton, he pulled over, was met by God, and was born again. A spiritual delivery in the car, Fred then turned around, drove over the meridian and headed back to the communal house. Six weeks later, Marilly moved into the communal house and became a kitchen steward. The following June, they were married.

For almost 20 years, they served in many capacities at the Prince of Peace church. Fred started a small Christian school at the church and ran it for 13 years, with up to 100 students. In 1993 they came to City Bible. Fred became a high school teacher at City Christian where he taught for 5 years. Then it happened. Fred calls it his mid-life-crisis: the opportunity came along to buy not one, but two Subway Sandwich franchises. They took a leap of faith, refinanced their home and plunged into the world of business. And they had their hands full. In the first five weeks of operation, they developed a new diet program called “STRESS”. It worked. Fred lost 30 pounds and Marilly lost 25 pounds. Since then, things have settled down and they are in the groove, but they still put in up to 100 hours a week between them, and it shows. Their business has a great peace about it. In doing their interviews, a customer asked for an application to work because “it feels so good in here.” Marilly likes to do comedy relief, it truly is a friendly place.

They have more to offer than a peaceful atmosphere; the food is incredible. They strive to use the freshest ingredients, going so far as to prepare fresh vegetables twice a day. Seven of their subs have under 6 grams of fat. You may have heard of the gentleman who recently lost over 200 pounds by eating two of Subway’s most popular sandwiches a day. Their most popular sandwiches: the club and the turkey are delicious.
In spite of a stressful beginning and being robbed at gunpoint at both stores, Fred and Marilly envision purchasing one or two more stores. They are currently building a new store which will be their third. What entrepreneurs! They have a goal of paying off one store, releasing Marilly to cutting back, and having their son, Jeremiah, manage one to two stores.
These two are a terrific example of Christian business people. Taking risks, making sacrifices, being diligent and having servants’ hearts. We applaud these wonderful people for their great example. Their Subway Sandwich franchises are located at 103rd & Haley and 181st & Glassine. Let’s support them!