CNN —
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who became known as “Joe the Plumber” after pushing then-Sen. Barack Obama on his economic policies during the 2008 presidential campaign, has died, according to members of his family. He was 49.
“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.’ 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,” his wife, Katie Wurzelbacher, said in a statement provided to
