Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery Perpetual Care - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,268,557	$ 1,207,563
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	18,292	19,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(77,015)	(34,021)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,209,834	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	3,697	794
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	26	40
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(95)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,628	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	33,094	31,993
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	507	442
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(154)	(233)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	33,447	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	13,178	16,762
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	168	344
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(279)	(210)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	13,067	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	968	910
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	18	15
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(7)	(6)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	979	919
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	662	661
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	6	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(26)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	642	667
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,264	4,439
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	33	60
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(626)	(12)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5,671	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	237,356	225,129
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	7,740	9,340
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(21,941)	(4,881)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	223,155	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	5,381	7,419
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,049	2,737
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(837)	(596)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	6,593	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	12,825	8,102
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	40	90
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,523)	(399)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10,342	7,793
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	21,602	17,310
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,116	3,264
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(1,468)	(93)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	23,250	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	881,664	846,230
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	563	1,580
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(41,924)	(14,263)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	840,303	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	38,631	34,288
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,988	408
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(6,773)	(10,788)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	33,846	23,908
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,235	13,526
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,038	1,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(362)	(2,532)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 14,911	$ 12,088