About Us and Our History

Henry Eashum & Son Inc. has been Trusted and Serving The Community Since 1947.

What We Do

We specialize in Plumbing and HVAC (Heating and Air Conditioning) Repair and Installation.

If you need to find a local plumber or HVAC contractor, give us a call at 302-697-6164.

We answer our own phones during normal Operating Hours, and on top of this we have an open door policy, where our customers are always welcome to come in and speak face to face with a member of our friendly knowledgeable staff.

(Click here for a list of the Services We Offer, such as drain cleaning, heater cleaning, etc)

We’re located in Camden, Delaware. We service all of Kent County.

Who We Are

The authentic storied history of this company, that has been in business and operating since the 1940’s.

Henry Eashum & Son Inc, referred to by many throughout the community as Eashum Plumbing, was founded in 1947, by Henry Eashum, who was soon joined by his son Stephen. They initially worked as a tandem, and began a legacy that grew into a full fledged successful family business.

However, success became tragedy in the early 1970’s, when Henry’s untimely death rocked the family, and sent the business into a tailspin. His son Stephen passed away the following year (1973).

Henry and Stephen were now both deceased and their deaths left the family business faltering, and in jeopardy. The business now seemed doomed. Stephen’s wife Mildred, with her back against the wall, was the company’s last hope.

Mildred “Milly” Eashum had no business experience, was a mother of five children, and had been a stay at home mom, since the age of 17, when she gave birth to her first child, Dale.

Milly had no formal training, no college education, and was not even a high school graduate. Against the odds, she took the business by the reigns, not because she wanted to, but because she had to. She needed to feed and support herself and her children.

The business was now in debt due to the fallout of Henry and Stephen’s deaths.

The burden and responsibility fell onto Milly’s shoulders. Anyone who believed that they were owed anything by the company or her husband, demanded payment from her. Not one to run from trouble or to leave her bills unpaid, she did everything in her power to rectify the situation.

The absence of Henry and Stephen also meant the loss of two of the companies best and most reliable workers. Expenses and bills piled up, while company productivity and income slowed down.

Milly needed help, she needed to employ another reliable mechanic, so she turned to her eldest son, Dale Eashum, who was in high school, and only 17 years old at the time of his father’s death.

Dale Eashum became a full time employee for the company upon graduating high school (1974).

The business had been struggling, and the customer base dwindled due to the death of the previous owners and top mechanics. This meant lower earning potential for Dale. Despite being completely dedicated to the business, Dale would sometimes only have the opportunity to log a few hours of work per week, which meant very low pay.

Dale could have chosen to work for a different company, and earned higher wages, been offered more hours per week, with better job security, and a much higher income, but out of pride and loyalty, he stayed by his mother’s side and remained an employee of the company.

Through hard work and determination, the tide began to turn. The company worked itself out of debt, paid off it’s creditors, rebuilt it’s customer base, and became a positive force in the local community.

Milly Eashum, the grieving widow, with a heavy heart, and an overwhelming amount of pressure and misfortune, persevered through dark times, due to her relentlessness determination and her beliefs. She had the mentality that a person should always do the right thing and treat others well. Her can-do attitude and uncanny leadership skills shocked everybody including herself.

Leadership came natural to Milly, because she was level headed, possessed good common sense, and she was a true people person, who cared about everyone, which led to her being very in touch with her employees, as well as her customers and the general public.

Milly and Dale went on an epic run of achievement and led the company through many decades of triumph and success, always working hard and doing their best to satisfy their customers.

Milly began slowly phasing herself out of the office, leaving Dale to take over in 2009.

Milly passed away in 2016.

Dale Eashum is now the company owner and president.

Dale has been involved in the family business nearly his whole life. He has been a licensed plumber for over 30 years, doing house calls and serving the public, keeping him very in touch with the local community and regular everyday people.

This position comes with a lot of responsibility, but it has allowed for him to develop the rare hybrid best of both worlds perspective, of both a friendly well mannered successful business owner, and a tough hard working blue collared member of the work force.

He is one of the rare business owners, who has spent years, personally serving the public under the harshest of circumstances. When customers call with emergencies, such as water pipes that have frozen and busted in the winter cold, even in the middle of the night, it’s not uncommon for Dale, to leave the comfort of his home, and travel down icy roads to reach a customer’s home, so that he can fix the problem and remedy the situation, even if it means that he has to lay down on the frozen ground outside in the cold wet snow, to thaw and repair frozen pipes underneath a trailer.

We care about our customers and community.

Our Goal

We strive to be valuable members of society and a true asset to the public.

We try to please our customers.

We create jobs and provide employment.

We’ve sponsored many local charities.

(Including Camden Wyoming Little League, Pop Warner Football, Harvest Hustle, and more)

Let us help you! Call us for all of your plumbing and HVAC contracting needs!

Our phone number is (302) 697-6164.