Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,411,166	$ 1,376,118
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	38,316	227,890
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(45,184)	(54,826)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,404,298	1,549,182
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	63,447	113,293
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	257	1,714
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(605)	(8,876)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	63,099	106,131
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	21,687	17,073
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	261	170
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(134)	(261)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	21,814	16,982
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	8,725	48,838
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	122	5,262
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(116)	(646)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8,731	53,454
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	111	406
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(2)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	113	406
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	170	3,336
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	16	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(13)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	186	3,323
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	10	16,654
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1	1,106
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(123)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11	17,637
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	557,955	423,524
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	22,746	147,258
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(11,706)	(3,231)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	568,995	567,551
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	10,962	15,361
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,011	4,063
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(841)	(935)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	15,132	18,489
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	55,632	44,017
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,605	10,079
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,395)	(200)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	54,842	53,896
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	344,443	325,927
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,244	49,428
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(18,430)	(1,704)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	330,257	373,651
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	314,600	337,986
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	679	5,236
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,702)	(33,649)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	310,577	309,573
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	32,342	28,625
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,185	3,372
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6,183)	(5,153)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	29,344	26,844
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,082	1,078
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	186	200
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(71)	(33)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,197	$ 1,245