SAMUEL JOSEPH WURZELBACHER, who briefly rose to fame as “Joe the Plumber,” during the 2008 US presidential campaign after a face-off with Barack Obama over taxing small businesses, died yesterday at the age of 49.

Samuel passed away at his home near Milwaukee, Wisconsin from complications of pancreatic cancer, his wife, Katie Wurzelbacher told the New York Times.

Obama, who was campaigning for the presidential election, was confronted by Samuel  in Toledo, Ohio, on 12 October 2008.

During their five-minute conversation in front of TV news cameras, Samuel told Obama that he was concerned about his plumbing business being subject to a bigger tax bite.

Three days later, “Joe the Plumber,” as he was popularized by Obama’s Republican rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, was invoked some two dozen times during the final debate of the presidential campaign, the New York Times reported.

After stating that he didn’t enjoy the notoriety of the presidential election, Samuel ran for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District in 2012 against a Democratic incumbent but was unsuccessful, NBC News reported.