Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Cemetery Perpetual Care - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,367,309	$ 1,356,781
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	54,803	42,839
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(43,259)	(50,547)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,378,853	1,349,073
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	987,878	982,011
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	51,865	40,599
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(27,407)	(34,451)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,012,336	988,159
Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	379,431	374,770
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,938	2,240
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(15,852)	(16,096)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	366,517	360,914
Private Equity Funds | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	100,496	97,108
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,938	2,240
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(6,885)	(6,710)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	96,549	92,638
Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member] | Portion at Other than Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis		277,662
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax		0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax		9,386
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		268,276
Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member] | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	278,935
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(8,967)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	269,968
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	10
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	14,085	14,280
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	16	88
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(142)	(114)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	13,959	14,254
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	4,503	4,636
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	98	100
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(107)	(101)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,494	4,635
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	251	304
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(1)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	251	303
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	112	220
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3	3
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(15)	(28)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	100	195
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,469	1,479
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	18	2
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(89)	(117)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,398	1,364
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	243,197	233,643
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	39,567	28,679
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(4,899)	(2,337)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	277,865	259,985
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	4,863	4,828
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,875	2,631
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(90)	(108)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,648	7,351
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	10,655	14,607
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	275	148
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(936)	(2,236)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	9,994	12,519
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	15,484	18,909
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,808	4,370
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(258)	(412)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	19,034	22,867
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	692,627	688,472
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,948	3,324
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(20,870)	(28,997)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	675,705	662,799
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	622	633
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,256	1,254
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,878	$ 1,887