Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Joe Wurzelbacher, whom Americans would remember as âJoe the Plumberâ from the 2008 presidential election, died on Sunday at the age of 49 from pancreatic cancer. News of Wurzelbacherâs death broke on Twitter late Sunday afternoon. âHorrible news. My good friend Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, passed away this morning at