Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Funeral - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,137,014	$ 1,137,504
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	94,223	71,520
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(31,784)	(56,272)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,199,453	1,152,752
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	926,152	927,653
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	86,465	65,387
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(27,694)	(49,915)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	984,923	943,125
Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	210,862	209,851
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	7,758	6,133
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(4,090)	(6,357)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	214,530	209,627
Private Equity Funds | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	36,430	40,892
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,150	2,956
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,959)	(5,190)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	36,621	38,658
Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member] | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	174,432	168,959
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	4,608	3,177
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	1,131	(1,167)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	177,909	170,969
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	72,835	75,245
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	405	317
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(372)	(557)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	72,868	75,005
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	53,740	55,752
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	254	272
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(59)	(42)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	53,935	55,982
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	11,874	12,702
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	193	177
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(71)	(92)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11,996	12,787
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	172	29
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	17	1
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	189	30
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	52	58
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	0	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(1)	(3)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	51	55
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,425	1,428
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	112	81
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(54)	(39)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,483	1,470
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	332,089	334,854
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	62,224	49,785
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(5,017)	(11,525)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	389,296	373,114
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	11,593	11,853
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,966	2,592
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(441)	(263)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,118	14,182
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	23,513	25,761
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,212	1,824
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,439)	(3,167)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	23,286	24,418
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	320,086	313,132
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	15,302	7,780
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(12,428)	(26,842)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	322,960	294,070
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	94,756	92,760
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,332	1,344
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(6,782)	(7,368)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	89,306	86,736
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	4,017	4,079
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,448	1,214
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(30)	(17)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,435	$ 5,276