Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,253,119	$ 1,207,563
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	29,914	19,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(29,432)	(34,021)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,253,601	1,192,966
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	788	794
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	38	40
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	822	830
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	28,631	31,993
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	965	442
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(199)	(233)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	29,397	32,202
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	14,003	16,762
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	372	344
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(139)	(210)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,236	16,896
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	970	910
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	18	15
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6)	(6)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	982	919
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	666	661
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	10	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	8	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	668	667
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,329	4,439
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	65	60
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(164)	(12)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5,230	4,487
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	233,757	225,129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	12,144	9,340
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,864)	(4,881)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	237,037	229,588
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7,148	7,419
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,773	2,737
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(457)	(596)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	9,464	9,560
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	12,581	8,102
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	219	90
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,063)	(399)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11,737	7,793
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	17,658	17,310
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,211	3,264
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(267)	(93)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	20,602	20,481
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	884,376	846,230
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	7,121	1,580
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,102)	(14,263)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	881,395	833,547
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	34,024	34,288
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,439	408
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(7,240)	(10,788)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	28,223	23,908
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,188	13,526
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,539	1,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(919)	(2,532)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 13,808	$ 12,088