Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,462,612	$ 1,406,443
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	115,295	100,469
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(43,883)	(71,829)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,534,024	1,435,083
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	7,450	70,070
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	10	567
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(6)	(281)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,454	70,356
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	9,052	9,109
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	10	49
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(84)	(66)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8,978	9,092
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,587	1,596
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	15	18
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(40)	(34)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,562	1,580
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	169	170
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	16	13
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	185	183
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	542,523	539,445
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	76,165	72,682
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(11,907)	(21,680)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	606,781	590,447
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	8,897	9,027
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	5,188	4,807
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(60)	(84)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,025	13,750
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	33,081	42,870
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,542	3,023
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,550)	(5,229)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	34,073	40,664
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	372,427	356,079
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	17,328	7,812
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(13,079)	(29,603)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	376,676	334,288
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	264,979	94,383
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,959	1,535
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(10,310)	(9,854)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	257,628	86,064
Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	222,447	283,694
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	10,062	9,963
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(5,847)	(4,998)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	226,662	288,659
Reported at net asset value | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	41,393	37,881
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	4,962	4,616
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(5,554)	(3,317)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	40,801	39,180
Reported at net asset value | Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	181,054	245,813
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	5,100	5,347
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	293	(1,681)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	185,861	249,479
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,240,165	1,122,749
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	105,233	90,506
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(38,036)	(66,831)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,307,362	$ 1,146,424