Spooky action at a distance (Score 1)

My father is a WWII vet who raised a family of 10 on a modest salary by being hard-nosed, no-nonsense, practical realist. So one day (when I was a kid), he's blowing his top because SOMEONE was messing in his dresser drawer! His box of cards was opened, and a prayer card that he had saved since he was a kid was standing up on top. The prayer card was from a wake for a childhood friend who had killed himself as a kid. My father kept in touch with the family through the annual Christmas card exchange. Nobody fessed up to rifleing through his drawer (a capital offense). Then later that same evening he gets a call from the family with the bad news that the childhood friend's father (same name) had passed the night before. Please explain that.