An Iowa Supporter Builds a Legendary Hawkeye Collection

PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM Longtime Iowa athletics supporter and memorabilia collector Ted Pacha

It started with homecoming buttons.

Ted Pacha has been collecting Iowa Hawkeye memorabilia for much of his life. His collection features more than 18,000 homecoming buttons, including a 1922 cardboard creation.

“I have a binder with the years listed and how many buttons I have for each year,” says Pacha. “It’s been fun to help people complete their collections too.”

Pacha’s Hawkeye treasures are housed in two buildings on his 50-acre property in Iowa City, and within his garage and office, he has one standout item—a 1929 Mercedes Benz replica produced in 1981 that was once owned by former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry.

“Coach Fry and his wife, Shirley, drove it back from California after a Rose Bowl,” says Pacha, a longtime donor to University of Iowa Athletics. “He was 6-foot-4, so that could not have been comfortable. It only has 3,400 kilometers on it.”

Pacha’s barn—dubbed Ted Pacha Hall of Fame East—is where most of his Hawkeye mementos are located. Whether it’s posters from generations of Hawkeye teams to more unusual items such as a signed Nike Kinnick (40BA) playing card or a 1986 Rose Bowl toothbrush, Pacha has it all.

His collections have attracted many events, including I-Club functions, parties, and weddings. Last fall, he had an unexpected request.

“Both the Iowa men’s and women’s basketball teams wanted to do their photo shoots in my barn,” he says. “I couldn’t picture it, but I said yes. I spent the entire weekend making sure it looked its best, scrubbing the floors and cleaning stuff up.”

Pacha’s barn then became the setting for a special moment in Hawkeye history for the women’s basketball team. During the shoot, Jan Jensen, the P. Sue Beckwith, MD, Head Women’s Basketball Coach, took a surprise video call from McKenna Woliczko, ESPN’s No. 6 ranked women’s basketball recruit. Woliczko committed to the Hawkeyes, and the team—and Pacha—erupted in jubilation.

As Jensen said to Woliczko, “We’re going to do this photo shoot, and we can’t wait for the next one—when you’re in it.”

PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM Hawkeye superfan Ted Pacha (center) opens his barn to the 2025-26 Iowa women’s basketball team.