Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,387,918	$ 1,411,166
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	64,953	38,316
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	45,124	45,184
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,407,747	1,404,298
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	70,592	63,447
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	162	257
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	678	605
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	70,076	63,099
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	22,113	21,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	361	261
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	156	134
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	22,318	21,814
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,573	8,725
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	49	122
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	145	116
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	6,477	8,731
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	126	111
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	2	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	126	113
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	170	170
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	15	16
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	185	186
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		10
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax		1
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax		0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		11
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	542,616	557,955
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	44,610	22,746
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	20,299	11,706
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	566,927	568,995
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	10,954	10,962
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	4,620	5,011
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	936	841
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,638	15,132
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	51,514	55,632
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,967	1,605
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	3,930	2,395
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	51,551	54,842
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	331,972	344,443
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	4,749	4,244
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	7,709	18,430
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	329,012	330,257
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	316,758	314,600
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	302	679
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	7,938	4,702
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	309,122	310,577
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	32,384	32,342
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	5,674	3,185
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	3,191	6,183
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	34,867	29,344
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	2,146	1,082
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	442	186
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	140	71
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 2,448	$ 1,197