Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,207,709	$ 1,262,236
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	106,912	101,437
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(13,349)	(15,614)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,301,272	1,348,059
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	806	1,583
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	24	9
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3)	(14)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	827	1,578
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	28,385	28,487
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	380	301
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(275)	(459)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	28,490	28,329
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	19,656	43,107
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	406	311
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(289)	(263)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	19,773	43,155
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,057	4,242
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	15	14
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(12)	(19)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,060	4,237
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	823	2,996
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	17	4
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(11)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	840	2,989
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,763	25,860
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	237	192
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(252)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	6,999	25,800
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	178,667	230,174
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	51,080	53,782
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(107)	(2,087)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	229,640	281,869
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7,698	8,843
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,203	2,222
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(296)	(623)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10,605	10,442
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,131	20,598
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,545	1,320
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(167)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,676	21,751
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	55,475	41,114
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	6,406	5,693
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(15)	(35)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	61,866	46,772
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	853,113	816,405
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	41,722	35,964
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(110)	(2,598)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	894,725	849,771
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	36,778	28,309
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	433	472
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,429)	(9,002)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	26,782	19,779
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	12,357	10,518
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,444	1,153
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,812)	(84)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 11,989	$ 11,587