Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,356,781	$ 1,295,785
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	42,839	25,390
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(50,547)	(88,583)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,349,073	1,232,592
Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	97,108	75,613
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,240	2,406
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6,710)	(8,096)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	92,638	69,923
Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	277,662	20,616
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	9,386	178
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	268,276	20,438
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	982,011	1,199,556
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	40,599	22,984
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	34,451	80,309
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	988,159	1,142,231
Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		96,229
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		2,406
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		8,274
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		90,361
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		650
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		20
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(7)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		663
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	14,280	15,412
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	88	321
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(114)	(162)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,254	15,571
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	4,636	12,490
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	100	149
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(101)	(284)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,635	12,355
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	304	934
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	13
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(9)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	303	938
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	220	660
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	5
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(28)	(31)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	195	634
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	1,479	5,850
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	55
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(117)	(159)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,364	5,746
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	233,643	230,854
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	28,679	15,224
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,337)	(10,898)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	259,985	235,180
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	4,828	5,460
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,631	2,112
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(108)	(606)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,351	6,966
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	14,607	14,793
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	148	160
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,236)	(2,390)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	12,519	12,563
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	18,909	21,783
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,370	3,138
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(412)	(1,850)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	22,867	23,071
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	688,472	890,025
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,324	530
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(28,997)	(63,913)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	662,799	826,642
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	633	645
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,254	1,257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,887	$ 1,902
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	374,770
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,240
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	16,096
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 360,914