Joe,
Your father or grandfather (not sure which) was probably a member of an
Antient Lodge.
Most Brothers don't know about the rest of the Masonic world until after they have joined and the majority never find out and either stay in the
Antient system and title chase or leave the lodge and never come back. My
Antient lodge probably has 200+ members but I've never seen more than 15 or so there at once and 99% of the time it is the same 15. My decision to seek out the
Modern Masons was out of disappointment in what I saw of the
Antient system.
So, what I would do is check with the
Antient Grand Lodge of any state you think he might have lived in and see if they have him on the old roles. This usually is pretty easy to do, just email the
Antient Grand Secretaries and ask. If you think he was possibly an
Modern then it will probably be harder to get the info.