Recently Issued Accounting Standards 606 Statement of Operations (Details) - USD ($)
$ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands
 3 Months Ended 6 Months Ended
Jun. 01, 2018
Mar. 01, 2018
Jun. 01, 2017
Mar. 01, 2017
Jun. 30, 2018
Jun. 30, 2017
Jun. 30, 2018
Jun. 30, 2017
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Income before income taxes         $ 3,747 $ 7,449 $ 15,981 $ 19,255
Net income         $ 2,747 $ 4,410 $ 12,103 $ 11,494
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         $ 0.15 $ 0.26 $ 0.71 $ 0.69
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         0.15 0.24 0.67 0.63
Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per Share) $ 0.075 $ 0.075 $ 0.05 $ 0.05 $ 0.075 $ 0.05 $ 0.150 $ 0.100
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Income before income taxes         $ 3,747   $ 15,981  
Net income         $ 2,747   $ 12,103  
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         $ 0.15   $ 0.71  
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         0.15   0.67  
Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per Share)         $ 0.075   $ 0.075  
Balances Without Adoption of Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Income before income taxes         $ 3,729   $ 15,943  
Net income         $ 2,734   $ 12,075  
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         $ 0.15   $ 0.71  
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         0.15   0.67  
Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per Share)         $ 0.075   $ 0.075  
Effect of Change | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Income before income taxes         $ 18   $ 38  
Net income         $ 13   $ 28  
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         $ 0.00   $ 0.00  
Continuing operations (in dollars per Share)         0.00   0.00  
Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per Share)         $ 0   $ 0  
Funeral                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         $ 30,579 $ 29,422 $ 64,081 $ 59,851
Income before income taxes         12,414 14,198 31,828 33,020
Funeral | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         33,238   69,604  
Funeral | Balances Without Adoption of Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         33,267   69,672  
Funeral | Effect of Change | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         (29)   (68)  
Cemetery                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         9,272 9,162 17,915 17,373
Income before income taxes         4,254 $ 4,395 8,846 $ 8,607
Cemetery | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         9,880   18,940  
Cemetery | Balances Without Adoption of Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         9,869   18,910  
Cemetery | Effect of Change | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]                
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]                
Other Cost of Operating Revenue         $ 11   $ 30