East Penn began as a dream of the Breidegam family. In 1946, DeLight Jr., a young Air Force veteran, started a battery business with his father, DeLight Sr. The location of their business was a small, one-room creamery in the village of Bowers, PA.

Wartime made for scarce battery materials, but there was big demand for rebuilt batteries so returning GIs could get their vehicles running again. DeLight and his father filled that need by collecting old batteries and rebuilding them to new.