John C. Guerriero, founder of Continental Foods and a leader in the Little Italy neighborhood, died of pneumonia Monday at Mercy Medical Center. He was 86. Born in Kincaid, Ill., he was the son of Pete Guerriero and his wife, Mary, who left Sicily for the United States in the 1920s. His father had a Chester Street grocery store that faced the Northeast Market.

He attended City College and joined the merchant marine. He served in the Army during the Korean War and was assigned to the 38th Parallel as a medic. Mr. Guerriero joined his father’s grocery business and expanded it by selling Italian foods on a wholesale basis to new customers. The wholesale business was named Continental Foods.