Dr. William Carl Ebeling IV, a Towson dentist and former high school and college lacrosse star, died of a heart attack Saturday at his Hunt Valley home. He was 49.

Born in Baltimore and raised on Ruxton Road, he attended the Calvert School and was a 1971 graduate and varsity lacrosse player at Boys' Latin School. He was named to The Evening Sun All Metropolitan Lacrosse Team.

"He was very aggressive. He broke at least two sticks a week, more than the average guy," said Dyson P. Ehrhardt, his former Boys' Latin coach. "He threw that stick around with a lot of gusto."

He earned a degree at Roanoke College in Roanoke, Va., and played lacrosse there with distinction. He was inducted into the college's Hall of Fame in 1983.

"Ebeling is one of the important reasons for Roanoke's dramatic climb to national college division ranking," said a 1975 Sun profile. In that article, his coach, Paul Griffin, was quoted as saying, "One on one, he is the best defenseman in the nation, bar none."

He attended the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and earned his degree in 1981.

He established his dental practice the next year, and saw patients at St. Joseph's Professional Building on Osler Drive.

"He was a good-natured man who was warm and low-key," said his brother, Dr. James G. Ebeling, a Ruxton physician. "He put his patients at ease. My office is down the hall from his and I would frequently hear him and his patients laughing."

A member of Baltimore Country Club, he played golf and attended jazz and blues musical events.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. today at Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Preston Street and Maryland Avenue, where Dr. Ebeling was a member.

Dr. Ebeling also is survived by his wife of 27 years, the former Denise Karavedas; a son, William C. Ebeling V, and a daughter, Katherine Celeste Ebeling, both of Hunt Valley; his father, Dr. William C. Ebeling III of the Woodbrook section of Baltimore County; and two sisters, Regina Zwolinski of Arnold and Carol Ebeling of Ruxton.