Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, a conservative activist and commentator from northwest Ohio who rose to prominence as “Joe the Plumber” during the 2008 presidential campaign after he questioned Barack Obama as the then-candidate campaigned on his Springfield Township street, died on Sunday. He was 49.

The father of four had pancreatic cancer, according to a fund-raiser page for his family and a statement from his wife, Katie Wurzelbacher. He died in Wisconsin. The family had recently moved there from Lucas County.

​"We lost a beloved husband, father, son, brother and friend. He made an impact on so many lives," Mrs. Wurzelbacher said Monday in a message to The Blade.

"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,” Mrs. Wurzelbacher added.

Mr. Wurzelbacher gained national attention when he asked Mr. Obama about his tax plan on Oct. 12, 2008, during a campaign stop outside Toledo. Then, at a debate at New York’s Hofstra University several days later, Mr. Obama's Republican opponent John McCain mentioned Joe the Plumber two dozen times.

“What you want to do to Joe the Plumber and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American dream of owning their own business,” Mr. McCain said at one point during the debate.

Mr. Wurzelbacher also appeared with Mr. McCain on the campaign trail. He later revealed he wasn’t a big fan of the GOP nominee, though he did like Sarah Palin, Mr. McCain’s running mate.

Mr. Wurzelbacher became more involved in politics and wrote a book in the ensuing years. In 2012, he challenged U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) and lost by a wide margin.

Jon Stainbrook, the former Lucas County Republican chairman, said Joe the Plumber had been “plucked out of obscurity” because he just happened to be throwing a football in his yard, and the future president just happened to pick his street to walk down.

Mr. Stainbrook got to know Mr. Wurzelbacher early on when he got the assignment to help out the then-34-year-old political novice from suburban Toledo who national GOP leaders figured might help give Mr. McCain a last-minute boost before Election Day. The two eventually became friends.

When he arrived at Joe the Plumber’s house, Mr. Stainbrook recalled, a horde of cameras and journalists were set up outside. Mr. Wurzelbacher went through with a few interviews, but Mr. Stainbrook said the whole situation appeared “unnerving for him.”

It didn’t help when reporters poked a couple holes in Joe the Plumber’s story — that he didn’t actually have a plumber’s license, though he did work for a small local plumbing firm under someone who did have a license, and that he owed back taxes to the state.

“I’m kind of like Britney Spears having a headache. Everybody wants to know about it,” Mr. Wurzelbacher said at one point.

“Somebody like Britney Spears would be able to handle this because she asked for it. Joe the Plumber didn’t ask for it,” Mr. Stainbrook quipped at the time.

In 2012, he was recruited to run for the U.S. House seat that Ms. Kaptur had long held, in a heavily Democratic district, but he lost in a landslide. Over the years he also gave speeches and made other political appearances around the country. In more recent years, the U.S. Air Force veteran had returned to plumbing, his family said.

“He was a wonderful soul of a person, loved his family, and was unexpectedly thrust into the national, international spotlight of presidential politics,” Mr. Stainbrook said. “And I think he played that card the best that anyone could do, and then realized it wasn't for him, and went for the thing that matters the most, which was his family."

Mr. Wurzelbacher’s last wish had been to ensure his wife and children moved to her hometown, closer to her family. The New York Times reported he died at home in Campbellsport, about 60 miles north of Milwaukee. When they recently made the move, he said, “We made it,” Mrs. Wurzelbacher recalled. “He fought long and hard, but is now free from pain,” she said in her message to The Blade. “I don’t think of him as losing his battle. Because he knew Jesus, his battle was won.”

First Published August 28, 2023, 4:52 p.m.