Zora was born to Croatian immigrants, Filipina and Joseph Polich, in Chariton, Iowa in 1923. She was the ninth of eleven children. They lived on a farm where they raised livestock, corn and other crops. Zora developed her lifelong love of horses there. She attended Freedom Grade School, with one classroom for all eight grades and a teacher who arrived each day on horseback. She had fond memories of the school, her teachers, and life on the farm.

However, she said the Great Depression had a profound impact on her grown siblings and several temporarily moved back to the farm. In 1938, the family moved to Puyallup, Washington. Zora graduated from Puyallup High School in 1942 where she majored in Commercial and minored in Home Economics. She was also president of the Commercial Club.