Waiting until marriage is mentioned by the Maharil, so it isn’t a specifically eastern thing historically. Seems like the original minhag was probably not to wait until marriage, then all Ashkenazim waited until marriage, then the Yekkes went back to the original while the Polish and anyone further east kept doing like the Maharil (that’s my assumption).
There’s no reason to theorize the reason for the minhag. It has a source, that’s all it needs.
As for the OP, if you are in the habit of wearing a tallis, you probably should not stop regardless of your father’s customs.