Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,403,494	$ 1,411,166
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	69,843	38,316
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	39,588	45,184
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,433,749	1,404,298
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	62,247	63,447
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,347	257
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	54	605
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	63,540	63,099
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	19,950	21,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	585	261
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	114	134
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	20,421	21,814
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7,204	8,725
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	124	122
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	76	116
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,252	8,731
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	131	111
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	133	113
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	169	170
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	18	16
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	187	186
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8	11
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	550,508	557,955
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	42,709	22,746
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	17,833	11,706
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	575,384	568,995
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	11,136	10,962
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,101	5,011
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	701	841
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	15,536	15,132
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	52,609	55,632
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,858	1,605
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	3,746	2,395
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	52,721	54,842
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	348,259	344,443
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	6,516	4,244
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	7,133	18,430
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	347,642	330,257
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	319,702	314,600
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,442	679
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	6,449	4,702
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	316,695	310,577
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	28,910	32,342
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,568	3,185
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	3,185	6,183
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	31,293	29,344
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	2,662	1,082
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	571	186
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	296	71
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 2,937	$ 1,197