Born October 17, 1914, Kate Yoshihara and her husband Yasutara were married in 1935 and ran a successful lettuce and produce farm in California until the beginning of World War II. After the war started all persons of Japanese ancestry were deported from the West Coast to relocation camps in the Midwest. The Yoshiharas and their children were moved to Camp Amache in Southeastern Colorado.

Kate, Yasutaro and their children were released from the Relocation Center in 1945 and were one of the 2,000 Japanese-Americans that decided to stay in Colorado. The couple decided to go back to what they knew best, raising lettuce and produce. With $7,000 that Kate had hidden in a fruit jar during their internment, they bought a farm in Brighton. Their business flourished and soon they were looking for an opportunity to expand. While driving through Lafayette they spotted a site they thought would be perfect for a produce stand, just next door to a flower shop. Their insights were good and since 1949 the Yosiharas have grown that little stand into the Lafayette Florist and Greenhouses, a nationally acclaimed business. The family has continued to build the business through hard work and adapting to the changing needs of the community. In 1988 the Lafayette Florist and Greenhouses, Inc. was named one of the top 12 florists in the nation by Nursery Managers Magazine and it has been featured in national publications like Sunset Magazine.

Yasutaro Yoshihara passed away in 1979 but Kate continued to work in the family business until 2003. In 1994, Kate was inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame. Kate Yoshihara and her family have not only grown a successful business from a small vegetable stand but they have been active and dedicated contributors to their community for generations. Before Kate Yoshihara passed away on April 15, 2006, she took great pleasure and joy spending time with her five children, nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.