In samuels memory. what happens to samuels father?

The correct answer is that he becomes sick and dies.

 "My mother, my aunts and uncles take me aside one day. "Your father died last night," they tell me. My mother and my father's clan members are crying, but I do not understand what this means. I saw him yesterday. He was sick, but still alive. It doesn't seem real. Nothing seems real. I don't know what any of this means. It seems like yesterday, I was playing with my friends."

Hope this helps you! :-)