Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, commonly known as ‘Joe the Plumber’, who rose to fame during the 2008 presidential campaign after he confronted Barack Obama about his proposed tax plan, died Sunday, according to multiple media reports.
The American conservative activist and commentator was 49.
“Our hearts are broken. We lost a beloved husband, father, son, brother and friend. He made an impact on so many lives,” his wife Katie Wurzelbacher wrote in a statement released to Fox News.
“When I met Joe he was already known by everyone else as ‘Joe the Plumber’ but he wrote something to me that stood out and showed me who he truly was: ‘just Joe,’” she told the outlet. “He was an average, honorable man trying to do great things for the country he loved so deeply after being thrust into the public eye for asking a question.”
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Joe the Plumber’s Stage 3 cancer diagnosis
Wurzelbacher had recently been battling Stage 3 Pancreatic cancer, according to a fundraising page created this year to help his family with medical bills.
According to the page, he was undergoing treatment at the Ann Arbor, Michigan, VA Hospital as well as the University of Michigan Hospital.
“It’s with great sadness that I post this update: Joe passed away earlier this morning and entered our Lord’s heavenly home,” an updated comment on the post read Monday. “Recently, Joe made this comment during a Faithwire interview and it sums up his life journey: ‘God doesn’t promise us an easy road. He just promises to be there for us when we go on these roads.'”
As of Monday afternoon the fundraiser had garnered more than $140,000.
Who was ‘Joe the Plumber’?
Wurzlebacher, a native of Toledo, Ohio, made national headlines after the exchange with Obama in the 2008 campaign, when Wurzlebacher expressed concern that Obama’s then-proposed tax policy would increase taxes for small businesses.
GOP Presidential candidate John McCain and his supporters soon stepped in and started publicizing ‘Joe the Plumber’ “as a stand in for the average working American” at campaign stops.
Wurzelbacher would later join in campaign appearances.
He was also a 2012 Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Ohio’s 9th district.
Contributing: Chris Woodyard
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.
