William Ebeling

Dr. William Carl Ebeling III, a retired internist and diagnostician who had been chief of medicine at two area hospitals and president of the state medical society, died of dementia September 12, 2004 at his Woodbrook home. He was 81.

Born in Baltimore and raised on Bentalou Street, he was a 1940 graduate of City College. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park and received his medical training at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he was class valedictorian.

After an internship at what is now University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, he studied pathology at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., then began training in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He returned to Baltimore and taught that specialty at Maryland's medical school from 1952 to 1958.

In 1957, he began an affiliation with Bon Secours Hospital, where he was elected its medical staff president in 1967 and also served as chief of medicine. In 1959, he joined the staff of what is now St. Joseph Medical Center and later served as chief of medicine and was elected president of the medical staff.

"Carl was a well-rounded, humble physician who was prudent, concerned and hands-on. He gave each patient whatever time was necessary," said a former student, Dr. Arthur Serpick, vice president of medical affairs at St. Joseph. "As a teacher, he led an earthy discussion of the practical aspects of gastroenterology."

Dr. Ebeling initially had an office at the Medical Arts Building in Mount Vernon and moved his practice to Towson in the early 1970s. He was later joined by his two sons - one a physician, the other a dentist - and a daughter who is a registered nurse. They practiced in the same medical suite.

"He enjoyed and loved his patients," said his physician son, Dr. James Ebeling of Ruxton, with whom he had practiced since the late 1980s. "He rarely spent less than an hour with each of his patients. He was a great listener."

He was elected president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland in 1972 and had been its secretary a decade earlier. He also was a trustee of Blue Shield of Maryland from 1968 to 1972.

"This man was one of the smartest and most compassionate physicians I have known. He was the kind of person the doctors turn to when they got in trouble. They called on him. He was a superb diagnostician," said Dr. John Franklin Strahan, a friend for 50 years. "There was absolutely nothing put-on about him. His patience with people was untold."

He was named a fellow of the American College of Physicians in 1960 and achieved life-member status in 1973.

Baltimore Sun, September 16, 2003