Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery Perpetual Care [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	$ 1,295,785	$ 1,207,563
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	25,390	19,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(88,583)	(34,021)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,232,592	1,192,966
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	3,636	794
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	20	40
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(81)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,575	830
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	32,477	31,993
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	321	442
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(266)	(233)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	32,532	32,202
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	12,694	16,762
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	149	344
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(284)	(210)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	12,559	16,896
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	934	910
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	13	15
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(9)	(6)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	938	919
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	660	661
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(31)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	634	667
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	5,850	4,439
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	55	60
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(159)	(12)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5,746	4,487
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	231,012	225,129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	15,224	9,340
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,898)	(4,881)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	235,338	229,588
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	5,648	7,419
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,112	2,737
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(606)	(596)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,154	9,560
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	14,820	8,102
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	160	90
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,390)	(399)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	12,590	7,793
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	21,783	17,310
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,138	3,264
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,850)	(93)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	23,071	20,481
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	890,013	846,230
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	530	1,580
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(63,913)	(14,263)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	826,630	833,547
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	62,549	34,288
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,942	408
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,096)	(10,788)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	56,395	23,908
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,709	13,526
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,721	1,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(2,532)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 15,430	$ 12,088