Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery Perpetual Care - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,314,029	$ 1,295,785
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	27,570	25,390
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(80,511)	(88,583)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,261,088	1,232,592
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,229,550	1,220,172
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	25,208	22,984
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(72,317)	(80,487)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,182,441	1,162,669
Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	84,479	75,613
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,362	2,406
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(8,194)	(8,096)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	78,647	69,923
Private Equity Funds | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	84,479	75,613
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,362	2,406
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(8,194)	(8,096)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	78,647	69,923
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	2,986	3,636
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	0	20
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(108)	(81)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,878	3,575
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	36,402	32,477
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	400	321
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(106)	(266)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	36,696	32,532
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	11,324	12,694
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	113	149
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(362)	(284)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11,075	12,559
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	383	934
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1	13
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	(9)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	384	938
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	644	660
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	6	5
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(34)	(31)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	616	634
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	5,034	5,850
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	67	55
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(134)	(159)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,967	5,746
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	228,357	231,012
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	16,138	15,224
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(12,184)	(10,898)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	232,311	235,338
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	4,978	5,648
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,166	2,112
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(252)	(606)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	6,892	7,154
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	14,677	14,820
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	119	160
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,925)	(2,390)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11,871	12,590
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	19,842	21,783
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,531	3,138
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,037)	(1,850)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	21,336	23,071
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	904,294	890,013
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,413	530
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(54,175)	(63,913)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	851,532	826,630
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	629	645
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,254	1,257
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,883	$ 1,902