That struck me too. I was hoping he wouldn't get knocked off. He had such a sad life, he was a good guy who took alot of heat (some deserved!) and the whole thing really hinged on him. He should have lived.
And Tonks and Remus........why did she need to be bumped off? It seems ridiculous to have them have a baby and then kill them off just so Harry could come full circle and be a godfather.
To stress the most important lesson of the books, the lesson our left never seems to get, that evil is EVIL and that being good and innocent isn't enough to protect you from it. Kill the much loved innocent pet Hedwig, kill the happy go lucky Fred (and cut off George's ear), leave the baby an orphan (in spite of Harry's efforts to the contrary); she provides examples children should be able to understand. Alas some in the left never get this and are stuck, like Umbrage, giving pretty in pink news conferences.