Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Funeral [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,156,570	$ 1,213,128
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	43,383	33,058
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(90,559)	(40,439)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,109,394	1,205,747
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	82,417	85,775
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	107	468
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,331)	(455)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	81,193	85,788
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	72,488	90,430
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	532	449
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(655)	(874)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	72,365	90,005
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	19,036	24,765
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	235	423
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(284)	(126)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	18,987	25,062
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	1,297	1,325
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	29	29
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(22)	(12)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,304	1,342
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	5	6
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5	6
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	1,949	2,503
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	41	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(158)	(113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,832	2,503
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Commingled Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	69,148
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(442)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	68,706
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	344,116	377,441
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	30,885	18,533
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(19,149)	(7,405)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	355,852	388,569
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	11,930	14,708
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,652	4,292
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,077)	(895)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	13,505	18,105
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	32,156	38,035
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,636	1,175
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,907)	(1,560)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,885	37,650
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	323,884	308,548
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,263	3,332
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(43,975)	(15,901)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	281,172	295,979
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	155,717	229,414
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	154	869
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(13,092)	(3,576)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	142,779	226,707
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	38,201	35,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,703	2,649
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6,467)	(9,418)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	35,437	28,325
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,226	5,084
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,146	726
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(104)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,372	$ 5,706