Segment Reporting Level 4 (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	$ 572,999	$ 533,165	$ 1,729,472	$ 1,619,301
Gross Profit	107,050	102,647	348,519	324,303
General and administrative expenses	(23,863)	(26,860)	(77,381)	(80,086)
Losses on divestitures and impairment charges, net	(5,001)	(7,291)	(15,264)	5,831
Operating income	78,186	68,496	255,874	250,048
Interest expense	(33,038)	(31,497)	(100,476)	(96,281)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt, net	(1,355)	(9,066)	(3,504)	(9,357)
Other income (expense), net	249	688	969	3,077
Income before income taxes	44,042	28,621	152,863	147,487
Funeral [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	384,003	358,931	1,178,362	1,105,687
Gross Profit	69,022	69,058	243,827	231,167
Other income (expense), net	0	0	0	0
Cemetery [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	188,996	174,234	551,110	513,614
Gross Profit	38,028	33,589	104,692	93,136
Other income (expense), net	0	0	0	0
Corporate Elimination [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Other income (expense), net	249	688	969	3,077
UNITED STATES
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	518,754	479,120	1,569,748	1,458,883
CANADA
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	52,824	52,399	154,706	155,497
GERMANY
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	$ 1,421	$ 1,646	$ 5,018	$ 4,921

This element includes the following: (1) gains (losses) from the sale of property, plant and equipment and other intangible assets; (2) gains (losses) associated with the amount received from the sale of a business segment or subsidiary or sale of an entity that is related to it but not strictly controlled during the period; and, (3) impairment charges of assets.

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Amount represents the difference between the fair value of the payments made and the carrying amount of the debt at the time of its extinguishment.

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 470

-SubTopic 50

-Section 40

-Paragraph 4

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-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)

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-Paragraph 20, 21

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The aggregate total of expenses of managing and administering the affairs of an entity, including affiliates of the reporting entity, which are not directly or indirectly associated with the manufacture, sale or creation of a product or product line.

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-Paragraph 2

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Aggregate revenue less cost of goods and services sold or operating expenses directly attributable to the revenue generation activity.

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The cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest that was charged against earnings during the period.

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-Name Federal Regulation (FR)

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-Section 563c.102

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The aggregate amount of income or expense from ancillary business-related activities (that is to say, excluding major activities considered part of the normal operations of the business).

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The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

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Amount of revenue from external customers for the reportable segment. Such disclosure is presented if the amount is: (a) included in the measure of segment profit or loss reviewed by the chief operating decision maker or (b) otherwise regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker, even if not included in that measure of segment profit or loss.

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-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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