Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery [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	$ 1,397,324	$ 1,411,166
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	60,286	38,316
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(113,694)	(45,184)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,343,916	1,404,298
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	69,746	63,447
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	25	257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,437)	(605)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	68,334	63,099
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	24,648	21,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	183	261
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(169)	(134)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	24,662	21,814
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	5,112	8,725
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	26	122
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(118)	(116)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5,020	8,731
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	129	111
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	129	113
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	170
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	15	16
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	185	186
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
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		1
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		11
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Commingled Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	108,883
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(570)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	108,313
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	532,026	557,955
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	44,181	22,746
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(32,037)	(11,706)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	544,170	568,995
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	8,984	10,962
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,858	5,011
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(891)	(841)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11,951	15,132
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	50,053	55,632
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,207	1,605
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,799)	(2,395)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	48,461	54,842
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	356,798	344,443
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,620	4,244
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(49,642)	(18,430)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	308,776	330,257
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	203,983	314,600
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	92	679
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(18,526)	(4,702)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	185,549	310,577
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	34,810	32,342
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,803	3,185
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,502)	(6,183)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	36,111	29,344
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,982	1,082
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	273	186
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(71)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 2,255	$ 1,197