Theirs Is a Different Sort of Sibling Rivalry

“Hi,” said Michael Parker with an outstretched hand and a lopsided grin. “I’m the world’s greatest brother!”

Looming behind him was a giant copy of his own face gazing affably down at all northbound drivers on Newport Boulevard and Industrial Way in Costa Mesa. It has the same wry grin, gold-rimmed glasses, neat blond hair, the same blue sport coat and tasteful red tie. And it indeed proclaims in bold red letters: “World’s Greatest Brother!”

For those who have wondered about the billboard during the past few weeks, or suspected a covert ad for a fraternal organization, Parker, 37, explained that the billboard was a surprise birthday present from his younger sister, Kathy Kucera, who lives in Stamford, Conn.

Actually, Parker--who lives in Newport Beach with his wife and daughter--suspects that he may not be the world’s greatest brother. “But I’m pretty good,” admitted Parker, a college drop-out who has become a multimillionaire. During the past few years, he said, “I’ve been ridiculously extravagant.”

For starters, Parker, president of the Newport Beach-based Parker North American Corp., which leases bank equipment, surprised his sister on her birthday last year with a Mercedes-Benz 380 SL wrapped in a red ribbon. She had jokingly requested it when he asked her what she wanted, he said.

Then, in December, Parker, a board member of the Cystic Fibrosis Guild of Orange County, bought 25 extra raffle tickets (at $100 each) for all his family members at a fund-raiser for the guild. Kucera’s name was picked. She won a Jaguar XJ6. Figuring she didn’t really need it, Parker asked her if he could buy it for a reasonable price. He paid Kucera $20,000 and gave the car to his older sister, Pam Pearson, in Chicago.

“He is the world’s greatest brother,” Kucera said in a telephone interview, explaining why she paid at least $5,000 for the sign, which will stay up until mid-February. She said Parker gave her her first break in business by hiring her as director of marketing and communications in his first business, North American Video. Now, at 34, she is vice president of industrial relations for Penn Central Corp. in Greenwich, Conn.

“He’s Santa Claus,” said his father, William Parker of Irvine, who works in his son’s firm. “If he has had good fortune and you happen to be the focus of his interest, it’s mind-boggling. He’s given 10 Rolexes to people over the years.

“For people with an ordinary budget, it’s hard to reciprocate without going into bankruptcy.”

But beyond trying to even the scales for lavish presents, Kucera harbors a special appreciation for a big brother who was emotionally comforting during a time of personal--and private--trauma, according to William Parker.

“She trusts my opinion and my motives,” Michael Parker said. The tight-knit Irish family--which includes another brother, Bill, who lives in Laguna Niguel, and a sister, Diane Meredith in Dallas--has remained close, he said. He said he and Kucera were mistaken for twins when they were small. He taught his little sister to read and do addition before she entered first grade.

And five years ago, when he needed money to start Parker North American, he called her from a phone booth and asked for a loan. She gave him $25,000--the sum total of her savings, he said.

Now, he said, “we kid each other about who’s going to be on the cover of Forbes first.

“It’s a great friendship,” he said. “I don’t think many brothers and sisters are that close.”

“I wanted to give him something that would be a lot of fun and get a lot of attention,” Kucera said. She rejected her first idea of radio spots since he might not hear them. Once she hit on the idea of a billboard, she took a family picture of him to an advertising agency in New York. The agency contacted Foster & Kleiser, which found a location in Costa Mesa just across the city line.

She warned him to be in town Jan. 15 (a week after his birthday Jan. 8) because he was going to receive a special birthday present. As soon as the sign went up, William Parker took his son for a drive past the sign. “I simply said: ‘Look up there,’ ” William Parker said. “It was a smash hit. He started to laugh and chuckle.”

“You bet I was surprised,” Michael Parker said. “I just about fell out of the car.”

Friends who drive by the sign “just about drive off the road” when they see it, Michael Parker said. “I feel like a celebrity.”

Next year, Kucera said, she’s going to suggest that Parker give her a pair of driving gloves for her birthday.

“If we don’t stop this,” she said, “we might go bankrupt.”